


Dancing With My Mother's Ironing Board

by hotwheels_kin



Category: Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Ballroom Dancing, Crack Crossover, F/M, Is this a fix it?? lmao, No Smut, Plot, Slow Build, a lot of it, also in my humble onion the sw universe is full of mixed people, also warning: krennic makes some unwanted advances but they are only advances, and i finally sat down and wrote it???, and then his ass is handed to him, but don't get me wrong, can't believe i'm out here writing a het ship lol, if you've seen ddhn you know what I mean, krennic is the only cishet in this story, so this idea has been in my head for ages since diego luna was in both movies, this bitch gonna be long
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:08:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 30,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23925139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hotwheels_kin/pseuds/hotwheels_kin
Summary: OR: The Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights/Rogue One Crossover No One Asked ForJyn Erso and her family were taken back to Coruscant by Krennic after they had run away to Lah’mu. She’s grown up in the Imperial world, but it still doesn’t sit right with her, and now she’s been shipped off to isolated Fest for her father’s work during her last year of officer training…Cassian Andor is a half-Mirialan farmer who grew up on Fest. He watched his home change as the Empire encroached, and he won’t tolerate it much longer…Dance will bring them together.
Relationships: Cassian Andor/Jyn Erso
Comments: 29
Kudos: 37





	1. C’est la vie de château

**Author's Note:**

> So normally I title my fics with lyrics, but this DD:HN quote was too good to pass up, so each chapter will be song lyrics. First one is Château by Housse de Racket!  
> Please enjoy my crackhead mashup of 2 movies that have no business being mashed up :)

Fest was freezing. That was all Jyn remembered about it from a brief visit when she was a little girl. After her father had fled the Empire the first time, the family had scoped it out as a potential place to settle down. But the discovery of kyber deposits under the Northern polar ice cap had drawn the attention of the Empire, and her father thought it best they find somewhere else.

As much as her parents acted like that little stint never happened, it always haunted Jyn. After Krennic had brought them all back to the cold embrace of the Empire, Jyn still had dreams where she was running barefoot on their farm on Lah’mu, her father teaching her about chemistry and the galaxy beyond their isolated paradise, and on the weekends it was fighting lessons from Saw Gerrera. 

Saw… Jyn often wondered what had become of him. He had instilled in her a determination to stand up for herself, to fight for what was right until her very last breath… But living with her family on Coruscant, attending one of the top Imperial academies in the galaxy, the only fight Jyn took part in was the war against the hall monitor droids when she didn’t have a hall pass. It wasn’t that she was a bad student. Jyn just didn’t like attending class when she could just read the holo-textbook at home and still pass her tests. 

But that old, preppy, Imperial officer academy was a thing of the past. The Ersos had been shipped off to Fest with a week’s notice, only six months before Jyn was scheduled to graduate. If Bodhi and his squadron of pilot cadets hadn’t been shipped off with her, Jyn was certain she would’ve gone insane on this ice planet alone, with only stuffy Imperial Science Officers and their entitled sons to talk to. As much as she was going to miss the hustle and bustle of Coruscant though, she was curious about her new home. 

Fest had a few colonies of humans, mostly farmers and migrants who came to work in the Imperial mines. After the Clone Wars, many displaced Mirialans had settled there as well, already used to the climate, as it was similar to their homeworld. Jyn thought it was funny that the Mirialans chose this popsicle to settle on. They could’ve gone to any tropical place in the galaxy, but they picked somewhere with a similarly abysmal climate to their devastated home. Well, maybe it was more sad than funny.

The Imperial base on Fest had been established in a settlement called Anavah on the edge of the northern ice cap, striking a balance between proximity to the mines and equatorial warmth. Looking out the window of their Imperial transport, Jyn could just see the big, ugly building as they broke through the cloud cover. As they descended, speeders came into view, like ants scurrying around their snow covered hill. 

Bodhi refused to look out the window even when Jyn beckoned. He complained it stressed him out to see other people’s landings, especially with his final flight tests coming up so soon. 

The flight attendant droid circulated the transport, reminding everyone to buckle for landing and an annoyingly pleasant voice. Jyn reluctantly complied, peeling her hands from the window, which had already grown a layer of frost on the outside. 

“Ready to live in a freezer for six months?” Jyn sighed.

Bodhi looked over at her. “Hey, it could be worse. My friend’s older brother got stationed on… on Mustafar. His barracks are literally a ray shield away from melting in lava.”

“Fair.” Jyn let her head fall back against the headrest. No amount of complaining was going to change where Krennic sent his science division. Maybe a change of scenery would do her good. She had always said she wanted to see more of the galaxy. Saw had told her stories about the rainforests on his beautiful homeworld of Onderon, the salt caves on Crait, and the deserts of Lasan. It may be cold, but she had to admit Fest was beautiful, at least from an aerial view.

* * * * *

Jyn hadn’t expected the inside of the Imperial base to be fashioned like a Scarif resort. The lobby had giant marble pillars with gaudy ribbons, and the Recreation Hub had giant holo-screens with live oceanscape feeds for walls. There were saunas and spas and pools at every turn. 

“Krennic, you son of a bitch,” Jyn whispered as she studied a map of the base. It was shaped like a figure eight, one loop containing science laboratories, and the other a lavish playpen. “He didn’t drag us out here for my father to research kyber crystals. Krennic wanted a vacation.” Jyn scoffed.

“Are you complaining? Jyn, I’m never leaving this building.” Bodhi laughed at her.

“Yes, you are. The academy and flight simulation center are across town.” Jyn flipped over the map in Bodhi’s hand, pointing out the red path through the colony, connecting the base with the satellite academy. 

“Damn.” Bodhi squinted at the map. “Well I’m not leaving until Monday then. C’mon, let’s go check out the Rec Hub.”

Jyn begrudgingly followed him to the main pool deck, weaving through the reclining chairs angled at the artificial sun so the Empire’s trophy wives could maintain a flawless tan. In a back corner, sipping purple drinks, Bodhi’s squadron lounged in and around a hot tub. Bodhi did a bro-y handshake with a couple of them, then plopped down in a chair under an umbrella. Jyn stayed standing with her arms crossed, taking in the explosion of bad music, sunglasses tans, and the smell of chlorine. 

“Hey Jyn, you hiding something under there?” One of the flyboys, Phelos, called out to her. Jyn raised an eyebrow, then realized she was still wearing her winter jacket. She slid it off and smoothed out her tank top.

“I see you’re settling in here nicely, Jyn Erso.” A hand squeezed her shoulder. She could feel droplets of spit hitting the back of her neck as Krennic appeared behind her and over enunciated the _S_ in _Erso._

Jyn spun around and Krennic’s hand fell. She smiled half-heartedly. “I am indeed, Director Krennic.” He was wearing a floral shirt, and it took every last drop of her composure to not burst out laughing at him. He couldn’t look more like an asshole right now if he tried, with his hair still perfectly slicked back, sunglasses sliding down his sweaty nose, chest hair peeking out from his ambitiously half-unbuttoned shirt, and drink boasting a tiny umbrella.

“Glad to hear it,” Krennic grinned and gestured around at his paradise. He opened his mouth to continue, but Jyn cut him off. 

“Well, I really have to finish unpacking, but it was just lovely to see you all.” She saluted Bodhi and faked a smile to Krennic, taking a step backward to start fleeing the situation. But her elbow met with metal and her foot landed on someone’s toe. Glass shattered and purple liquid splattered everywhere. Jyn spun around, but it was too late for the drinks and the white shirt of the waiter. 

The boy whispered in a language Jyn didn’t understand, but recognized as cuss words nonetheless. He squatted down to pick up the bigger pieces of glass, then looked up at Krennic and Jyn. His brown hair was falling into his eyes and he had a cluster of diamond tattoos on his neck unlike any Jyn had ever seen before.

“Um, my apologies.” He spoke nervously when he realized who Krennic was. 

“No, it’s my fault.” Jyn bent down and began helping him pick up straws and paper umbrellas. 

“What the hell is the matter with you? Your ceremonial tattoos must mark your achievement in breaking everything you touch.” Krennic spat, looking around the group for agreement, and finding a little in the nods of some of the flyboys. “Mirialans… they say they have a deep connection with the force, but this one can’t even hold onto a glass, much less levitate things with his mind.” Krennic chuckled at himself. He inspected his shirt and scrubbed at a single speck of purple from the spilled drinks. The waiter mumbled another apology, but Krennic just rolled his eyes, took another swig of his neon drink, and walked away. 

Jyn stood back up, about to chew him out, but thought the better of it, swallowing her anger and taking a deep breath. By the time she looked back down at the mess she made, it was gone, and so was the waiter. 

Scanning the Rec Hub, Jyn saw the waiter vanish behind a bar styled like a beach hut on Kashyyyk. She said goodbye to Bodhi and his squadron and followed the waiter.

* * * * *

“Kriff…” Cassian hissed, running hot water over his stained shirt and lathering it with soap to no avail. He had started out this job with a shirt for every day of the week, but every week, some Imp brat managed to spill something, and his supply was dwindling.

His supervisor rounded the corner and took note of the pile of broken glass on Cassian’s tray. “You’ll be paying for those,” He said under his breath, scribbling numbers on his holopad. Cassian sighed, not in the mood to fight a battle he couldn’t win. He gave up on his shirt for now, taking it off and shoving it in his bag.

“Excuse me, I’d like to pay for those drinks. It was my fault.” Cassian looked up to see the girl from earlier fumbling with her wallet. He quickly grabbed his spare shirt and threw it on, but he could tell the girl had already spotted the patches of green skin winding around his torso and up his left arm. She pretended not to notice, but she was Imperial. Of course she noticed.

“That won’t be necessary, miss.” The supervisor smiled, stepping between her and the drink platter. “Accidents happen. This is no concern of yours.” With a pointed look at Cassian, he sped off. Cassian pretended to busy himself with napkins and straws.

The girl approached Cassian, unsatisfied with the supervisor’s answer. “Look, I’m really sorry—”

“I don’t need your charity.” Cassian cut her off before she could offer him money. Realizing that had come off harsher than he intended, he looked up from the napkins he was folding and said, “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” The customer service smile he’d perfected flashed across his face, but Jyn wasn’t fooled.

“It’s not okay. Krennic shouldn’t have spoken to you that way.” There was something fiercely honest in her eyes. His older brother always said, _never trust and Imp,_ but this girl… at least she knew how to apologize.

“I’ve heard worse.” Cassian muttered, slid a new tray under his arm, and slipped into the kitchen. A bartender came over and dumped the broken glasses in the garbage, ending the discussion once and for all. Jyn bit her lip, then decided to return to her room. 

As she unpacked, organized her room, and had dinner with her parents, Jyn didn’t think about the half-Mirialan waiter for hours. But as she lay awake, struggling to fall asleep in her new environment, Jyn found herself thinking about him. Would she ever see him again? What was he doing right now? Did he assume that she judged those green patches of his skin? 

She would probably never see him again, except maybe in passing around the base. He was probably busy with his own family, not thinking about her at all. After all, she was just another Imp, and he probably wished she would just mind her own business.


	2. Keep a peace or live the most wonderful lie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title lyrics are from Dreamliner by Wild Beasts hehe

School was positively boring, but Jyn hadn’t expected anything less. New planet, same old exaggerated tales about the Clone Wars and obnoxious workload.

Only this school had an optional dance class. Apparently the locals were passionate dancers, and one was hired to teach Cantonican ballroom as an alternative physical education class. Jyn had done ballet as a child, but it had been ages… She took one look at herself in the mirror in her gym uniform, awkward, muscular, and boyish-looking in her unisex shorts, and headed off to the martial arts class instead. 

After class, Jyn changed back into the standard uniform, a stiff, dark gray pantsuit, and hurried to meet Bodhi in the quad. Ready to be out of there, she was still zipping up her coat when she jogged up to where Bodhi was waiting.

“Jyn, I know you wanted to walk, but can’t we just take the transport? It’s cold out here.” Bodhi shivered and pulled his hands into the sleeves of his jacket.

“Fine, you don’t have to come. I just wanted to see the city a bit.” Jyn rolled her eyes. Bodhi looked like he was about to give in, but then the rest of the flyboys arrived in their rabid pack. 

Bodhi was swept up among them as they headed for the transport back to base. “Jyn, you coming?” He shouted above the boys. Jyn made a face at the loud group of boys and shook her head. “See you at base!” He waved.

“Dude, when are you gonna ask her out?” Phelos punched Bodhi in the shoulder, a little harder than what would normally be considered playfully. The others howled, but Bodhi just shook his head.

“Dude,” Bodhi matched his tone, “When are you gonna remember that I’m gay?” The pack turned on Phelos, needling and laughing at him.

Jyn huffed and shoved her hands in her pockets, almost annoyed at herself for daring to walk home in this weather, but still burning with curiosity. Normally she got Bodhi to come with her when they snuck out to get a taste of the lower levels of Coruscant, but this freezing weather was a harder sell.

The streets of Anavah were lined with heat lamps, making the walk at least bearable. Some of the locals braved it without a coat, but Jyn’s teeth were still chattering. Mirialans and humans walked together and socialized, in such stark contrast to what happened within the walls of the Imperial base. Jyn could feel some stares on her, her Imperial issued clothing singling her out. A few stormtroopers marched around at intersections, checking speeder licenses and speaking gruffly to loud locals. 

It wasn’t until Jyn found herself in the plaza that she realized she was kind of lost. Her holopad had died in class since she used it to entertain herself during dreary lectures, and now she had no map. All she could remember was that the plaza was not on the main road connecting the base and the academy, but she couldn’t picture if it was east or west of the main road.

Bodhi was the responsible one. He was supposed to be here with his fully charged holopad when Jyn got lost. Not wanting to draw more stares by looking lost, Jyn marched on through the plaza, glimpsing down all the byways to see if she could see the main road. 

The sound of music drew her attention back to the center of the plaza, where a group of mostly Mirialans huddled around a gazebo. Working up the nerve to ask for directions, Jyn approached the gazebo. As she got closer, she could see past the crowd. A little old Mirialan man sat in a rocking chair, playing a seven-string hallikset. Jyn had taken hallikset lessons in year four or five, but she only got through scales and chords before she quit because she never felt like practicing. 

But her classical hallikset teacher couldn’t even play the way this old man was. His fingers knew the notes, so he barely had to look. The melody was fast paced and cyclical, and the crowd hanging on the gazebo slapped the wooden railing to the beat. The sound of it all made Jyn’s heart race. The old man rocked in his chair to the pounding beat.

Surrounding him, Mirialans and humans danced, bouncing up and down, sweating under the heat lamps. The Mirialan girls had let their curly hair down, and it floated around them and stuck to their faces. They all danced close together, hanging on each other’s shoulders, arms wrapped around waists, easy and fluid. The boys jostled each other, going back and forth copying and improving on each other’s moves, shaking their hands in a little flamenco step for flair.

In front of the old man, a little girl danced, mimicking the steps of the others. When she put her hands up into the air, Jyn could see green splotches on her palms. A pair of hands caught hers, and a guy swept her up and danced with her on his hip. She giggled and shimmied her shoulders with him. 

Jyn smiled to herself, remembering when she used to practice ballet at home. She’d be focusing furiously, trying to stay balanced on one foot, and her father would come in and swoop her up. _Papa, I’m doing my dégagés,_ she’d scold him. Hallikset, ballet… none of those things lasted, but part of her wished one of them had stuck. 

The boy spun around holding the little girl up high in the air, and Jyn got a good look at his face for the first time. It was the waiter from her first day at the Imperial resort. They made brief eye contact, but Jyn broke it off and started to head away from the gazebo. She was glad the biting cold hid the heat rising in her cheeks. 

“Hey!” Someone called from behind her. Jyn looked up and saw the boy jogging to catch up with her. The cold wind had blown her hair all in her face, and she smoothed it back quickly before he approached her. “What are you doing out here?” He was breathing heavy, wearing nothing but a white T-shirt in the frigid weather, and almost laughing at Jyn’s chattering teeth.

“Just thought I’d walk back from school.” Jyn crossed her arms, suddenly aware of how heavy her bag was with all her clothes and holopad inside. 

“You’re lost.” He chuckled. Jyn opened her mouth to argue, but couldn’t come up with anything clever enough to say. “Let me walk you back.” He turned back to the gazebo and shouted something in what Jyn assumed was Mirialan. A woman tossed him a coat and waved. 

“If you would just point me in the direction of the base, I’m sure I could find my way,” Jyn replied. 

“Sure, you’d find your way back, in a week, or a month.” He shrugged. “The streets of Anavah aren’t in a grid like your Imperial cities. They follow the old ice flow paths. Come on, I’ll take you back.” Jyn reluctantly agreed, too cold to be prideful. Soon, she was grateful, because he led her in the opposite direction she was about to try on her own.

“Thank you, uh…” She realized she didn’t even know his name.

“Cassian.” He finished her sentence.

“I’m Jyn.” They shook hands, and Jyn could hardly believe how warm his hand was in hers. 

“Here, let me take that.” Cassian gestured to her bag. Her shoulder ached already from martial arts, and now it was killing her, so she thanked him and handed the bag over. 

The suns were beginning to set, bathing the streets in a red glow. Throngs of people flooded from the public transport stations as they got off from work. Some were covered in a thin layer of gray dust from the kyber mines. Jyn reached up and touched her kyber necklace, wondering what in the world the Empire could be doing with all that kyber. 

“So you just thought you’d take a stroll through the city?” Cassian interrupted her thoughts. “Most Imps clutch their purses on this side of town, if they ever even venture here.” Cassian laughed and held up her bag, pretending to make off with it.

“I wanted to see the city I’ve been forced to move to,” Jyn replied.

“Woah, don’t get too excited about little old Anavah,” Cassian joked. “Seriously though, what kind of Imp are you, out here by yourself?”

Jyn had to think about that question for a moment. It rarely dawned on her how much she disliked the Empire, because she had gotten so used to putting up with its banthashit. “Don’t tell Krennic, but I’m the kind of Imp who’d love to see him trip over his stupid cape next time he meets with Vader.”

Cassian looked at her for a moment, then burst out laughing. He had expected quite a different answer. “Wow, so they haven’t completely brainwashed you yet?”

“Not yet.” Jyn laughed, not sure where the joke ended and reality began. 

“Maybe you could put in a good word about our petition then, since you’re a rare level-headed Imp.” Cassian finally put on his coat, the cold getting to him.

“What petition?” Jyn asked.

“The Empire has been putting a lot of pressure on the locals recently. They take some of our farmland and then demand we supply them with food, as ‘taxes.’ And the stormtroopers started enforcing a curfew that affected a lot of our night workers.” Cassian realized he was rattling off a lot and stopped himself. Surprisingly, Jyn seemed genuinely interested.

“See, this is what I’m talking about. I can’t wait to finish school and go fuck off on an isolated planet in the Outer Rim, far away from this mess.” Jyn sighed.

“If you leave, what good can you do though?” Cassian asked her, plainly out of his own curiosity. 

“What good can I do either way? What am _I_ going to do against the whole Empire?” Jyn looked up at the street lamps that were just turning on, each one adorned with a red flag. There were more flags on this street than she had friends in the universe.

“If everyone thought that way…” Cassian trailed off. Jyn knew he was right, but having tasted freedom on their farm on Lah’mu only to have it ripped away again… The thought of what the Empire could do to her, or could do to even a thousand resisters, scared her.

They walked in silence for a little bit, watching the sun disappear. Jyn treaded carefully on the uneven cobblestone roads, designed to keep the glacial runoff from freezing into a flat, slippery surface. She was glad she had taken this walk. Sure, she had gotten lost, but she had already come to learn more about Anavah than probably anyone else at the Imperial base. 

“Hey, by the way, your dancing was really cool. I’ve never seen anything like that before.” Jyn thought back to seeing Cassian and his friends taunting each other with flamenco moves in the gazebo.

Cassian scoffed, and maybe a little blush rose in his cheeks. “That was nothing. If you want to see some real Mirialan dancing, get a real taste of Anavah, you should come to the Black Rose Club on a Friday night.”

Jyn looked at him incredulously. She couldn’t tell if he was making fun of her… or almost asking her out on a date. “Maybe I will.” She decided to play his game.

The two rounded a corner, and found a couple of Mirialans playing vioflutes and halliksets. A small crowd was gathered around them, singing in Mirialan to the melody. This song was slower and meandering, and though Jyn couldn’t understand the words, she knew they felt… sad. Cassian immediately joined in singing, but softly. 

He sang like he didn’t realize he was doing it. And his voice was really… good. Jyn found herself unable to look at him as he sang. It was overpowering somehow. The two stopped in the crowd around the musicians, just enjoying the song and the sunset. 

Suddenly, Cassian’s voice halted. Jyn looked up at him, and saw that his gaze had drifted down the street. There were a few stormtroopers approaching.

“What’s wrong?” She asked.

“You don’t understand what they’re singing.” Cassian took her hand and pulled her out of the crowd. 

“Hey!” She protested. 

“We have to get off the street.” The urgency in Cassian’s voice and in his eyes as he looked around. They rounded a corner and were suddenly met with a line of stormtroopers.

“Hey, you there.” One of them called out. Cassian began pulling Jyn back the other way, but suddenly, his hand was wrenched from hers. A stormtrooper had grabbed Cassian from behind, tackling him to the ground and pressing his face into the stone. 

“Cassian!” She yelled.

“Get out of here! That way!” He pointed with his free hand in the direction of the base, but the stormtrooper on top of him grabbed it and handcuffed him. Jyn stayed frozen for a moment, not wanting to leave him there, but there were stormtroopers everywhere, tackling anyone with the slightest hint of green skin. She decided to bolt, realizing there was nothing she could do. The stormtroopers recognized her Imperial issue coat and let her pass through.

At home, Galen and Lyra were waiting for her. Lyra’s sigh was audible as Jyn opened the door.  
“Jyn, where were you? I saw Bodhi at the Rec Hub an hour ago and he said you walked…” Lyra stood up from her chair, pretending she wasn’t as worried as she was, pretending the Empire wasn’t still suspicious of their family.

“I got a little lost, but I made it back fine,” Jyn reassured her, deciding to keep all the things that were definitely not fine about her journey home to herself.

“Where’s your bag?” Lyra asked, and Jyn’s stomach dropped. Cassian had her bag.

“I left it at the academy. It was heavy, and no one gives homework on the first day.” Jyn replied coolly. She slipped into her room, not wanting to answer any more questions. At least she hadn’t really been planning to do her homework anyway. Hopefully the stormtroopers weren’t smart enough to assume he had stolen it…

Galen knocked on her door after a little bit, and she let him in. He sat in her desk chair and looked out the window, not sure where to begin.

“Jyn, I trust you. You know I do. But please promise me you’ll try to stay out of trouble.” Somehow, he could always read her. 

“I will, Papa. I promise.”

“Thank you, Stardust.”


	3. For all the warmth it feels so cold, for one so young I feel so old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title lyrics from Watch Me Bleed by Tears for Fears B)  
> (also just a warning, Krennic is Big Gross in this chapter)

Cassian had survived the day of work without spilling anything, which he considered a success. But he hadn’t seen Jyn anywhere, and he still had her bag. He had scoured the resort on his break, but she didn’t seem like the type to spend much time there anyway. His shift had officially ended and he was about to give up, but he felt guilty depriving her of her gym uniform and holopad another day. He decided to make one last sweep.

On the east side of the Rec Hub was a set of workout rooms with equipment for various sports and activities. Cassian rarely went over there, since most people didn’t drink and exercise. It also usually smelled like either sweat or sickly sweet air freshener. Cassian popped his head in the weights center, the cycling room, and the smashball court, finding nothing. The last room to look in was the dance studio. It was almost always empty, unless there were two fitness classes scheduled at the same time. But this time, there was a girl in the studio by herself, a holoplayer next to her, playing classical hallikset music. 

Her hair was pinned up and her back was to him, but Cassian still knew it was Jyn. She put a hand on the barre, straightened her back, and gracefully kicked, her toe pointed almost unnaturally far. She then did the ballet squat thing that Cassian could only remember the Mirialan word for, studying herself in the mirror to make sure her posture was just right.

The music ended, and a faster song came on. Cassian recognized it instantly, chuckling to himself. It was the kind of pop song that would pop up first in a quick holonet search of “Mirialan music.” Jyn turned to face the mirror and tried out the flamenco step Cassian had done the day before in the gazebo. She moved like a ballerina, but she wasn’t half bad. Cassian laughed aloud and she spun around, embarrassed. 

“Not bad, for an Imp.” Cassian called over the music. Jyn raced to shut it off. “Sorry to sneak up on you. I have your bag.”

“Oh, thank you...” Jyn crossed the dance studio to get her bag, but froze when she saw the marks on Cassian’s face. He could feel her staring at them, so he turned his head.

“I’m lucky your holopad was dead and the bucketheads were too lazy to plug it in, or I would’ve been arrested for stealing.” Cassian held the bag out to her, but she didn’t take it. Jyn reached out towards the scratches on Cassian’s cheek, her hand floating over them, but not touching. Cassian swallowed nervously, and Jyn pulled her hand back.

“I’m sorry I left you.” Her words again made Cassian’s brother’s phrase surface: _never trust an Imp._ But shit, why was this Imp girl actually nice? Was she just pretending to care? It had to be more than that. Cassian secretly wanted it to be more than that. 

“It’s okay. There was nothing you could’ve done.” Cassian put on a smile and put the strap of the bag in her hand.

“You said it yourself. I can’t just run away.” Jyn’s hands tightened around the strap and her lip quivered a little as she spoke. “I won’t watch that happen again.”

* * * * *

“Jyn. Hey Jyn. Hello in there?” Bodhi elbowed her. She had zoned out on the ride back from the academy, watching the streets fly by, wondering where Cassian and his dancing friends were hanging out today.

“Hmm?” She tore her eyes away from the window and turned to Bodhi.

“I said, are you going to that party tomorrow night? Phelos said there’s going to be a live band and Corellian cocktails.” Bodhi winked at her. He knew she hated functions like that, but he always managed to get her to go, mostly for the people watching.

“Only if you promise to text that Corellian guy who sat in front of you in math last year that you never stopped talking about.” Jyn grinned. Bodhi scoffed and turned red. “Kidding. I’ll go if you go.”

“You’re _the_ worst.” Bodhi rolled his eyes, but forgave her. “You have to dress up this time though.” 

It was Jyn’s turn to scoff. She hated wearing dresses. Imperial fashion was so… square. Stiff brocade, pencil skirts, almost exclusively red and black color schemes… It was like going to a beauty pageant, but also a funeral.

“Come on, I’m sure you can find something to wear here. Fest isn’t as uptight as Coruscant.” Bodhi encouraged her, and it gave Jyn pause. She had seen some Mirialan boutiques on her little adventure the other day… 

“Only if you come with me.” Jyn decided. Bodhi made an exasperated face, but agreed. 

When the transport arrived at the base, they changed into street clothes and headed out into Anavah, neither terribly excited about the task at hand. Jyn popped her head in a few places before deciding on a boutique she had passed at some point when she was lost. The boutique was covered floor to ceiling with dresses and fabrics of rich colors, none of which looked like they belonged at an Imperial party, but all of them at least somewhat interesting. 

Mirialan fashion was modest, but it definitely wasn’t boring. Each dress had intricate patterns embroidered into the neckline and some kind of dramatic flair, from shoulder pads to long trains. Jyn pulled a couple dresses off the rack and turned to Bodhi.

“Don’t ask me. I’m just glad I can get away with a black suit at all of these things.” Bodhi shrugged. Jyn bit her lip and put the dresses back.

Jyn was about to give up on the boutique when a Mirialan girl around her age approached her, took a good look at her baggy pants and dark coat, and said, “I think I have something for you.” She spun around and disappeared through a curtain covered doorway. Jyn looked at Bodhi, not sure what to expect. 

The Mirialan girl returned with a bundle of emerald fabric, unfurling it like a flag. It was a jumpsuit in a subtle geometric print, but it also had a half skirt embroidered with silver. Jyn almost laughed, surprised that the girl had found something she actually liked. She reached out and touched the fabric, impressed that it was so soft.

“What are you waiting for? Try it on!” The girl shoved the hanger into Jyn’s hand and went back to ironing skirts.

The dressing room was just four panels of Mirialan fabric hung from the ceiling, making a box around a standing mirror. Jyn changed quickly, part of her wanting to get this all over with, and another part of her actually eager to see herself in the jumpsuit. 

When she emerged from the dressing room, Bodhi was actually impressed. “It’s definitely not square,” He commented.

“Nope,” Jyn agreed. Seeing herself in this ridiculous jumpsuit, it was the opposite of that feeling she had felt when she saw herself in the mirror before Physical Education class. The halter top and cigarette pant legs made her feel… kind of elegant, for once.

“Is square good or bad?” The Mirialan girl asked.

“Square is bad.” Jyn smiled. “And this is not square.”

* * * * *

Jyn regretted saying she’d come the minute she arrived at the Imperian “party,” which they had no right to call it. It was definitely more of a “function.” There were mostly officers sitting around tables with white tablecloths and white napkins and white plates, drinking Corellian cocktails and talking about their hot secretaries while their wives were out of earshot. Bodhi, the flyboys, and a group of students from the academy stood near the dance floor. The flyboys were daring each other to guzzle the Corellian cocktails, and Jyn decided she wanted to go home before they all started barfing up their blue drinks. 

Heads turned as Jyn strode over towards her peers. She pretended not to notice, but she couldn’t help but hear a comment or two about “kids these days” and their fashion choices. The flyboys oohed as she approached, and Bodhi just grinned. 

“May I have this dance?” Phelos bowed.

“Shut up, Phelos. I think we both know you can’t dance for shit.” Jyn laughed. The drunk flyboys lost their minds. 

The live band everyone had been so excited for was only playing elevator music anyway and only some boring, old, traditional officers danced the foxtrot to it with their equally boring looking wives. Jyn had learned the foxtrot, waltz, and quickstep in grade school gym class, and it was the worst. The dancing part was fine, but being forced to hold the sweaty hands of ten year old boys was just not for her.

“Remember when we learned the quickstep, Bodhi?” Jyn asked.

“Remember when you tackled me in gym class in fourth grade because I pulled your hair in a game of tag, but we eventually became best friends after serving detention together?” Bodhi replied. Jyn could hardly believe it had been a decade since the infamous incident.

“Gym class was and is the bane of our existence.” Jyn chuckled. “Come on, let’s show these old farts what the kids these days are about.”

Jyn dragged Bodhi out onto the dance floor, and they spun and twirled only a little dramatically. The serious dancers shot them looks of disgust, and it only fueled their exaggeration of the classic moves. Just as the song ended, Bodhi dipped Jyn so far she almost fell over. They barely recovered, and burst out laughing as the room got quiet. 

“Ah, Jyn, so glad you could join us tonight.” Jyn whirled around and found herself face to face with none other than Krennic. “Your dress is… quite unique.” He smoothed out his own white suit as he commented on her outfit, almost like he was expecting her to return the favor.

“Thank you, Director Krennic.” Jyn eyed him suspiciously. The music started up again, the song surprisingly slower and sleepier than the last.

“Ah, I love this one. Let’s dance, Jyn.” Before she or Bodhi could say or do a thing, she was swept up and dragged to the center of the dance floor, suddenly surrounded by officers all swaying to the waltz. 

Jyn was at least glad Krennic had on white gloves, so she didn’t have to feel like a fourth grader unwillingly holding sweaty palms again. The song seemed to drag on forever, and Jyn felt like she was shrinking and shrinking, and the world was spinning. Soon, she’d be nothing but a tiny speck on the floor, the jumpsuit laying in a crumpled heap on top of her.

“This is your last year of academy, right? You know, I think you’d be a great fit for my science division. Have you thought about where you plan to specialize?” Krennic asked her.

“Not really.” Jyn’s lips moved independently from her mind.

“I think I have a job that would be a great fit for you, Jyn.” Krennic continued. Jyn looked anywhere but at his face, hoping that if the Force did have some will, it would will the band to end this song.

A millennium later, the band ceased. Jyn mumbled something about getting some fresh air and disentangled herself from Krennic. She snuck away, out some back doors she probably wasn’t allowed to exit through. The cold outside was biting, but it was a refreshing shock to the system.

The base was on the farthest edge of the city, and behind it was the flat, bluish expanse of the glacier. At night, it was illuminated only by the lights along the Imperial supply lines to the mine, which never ceased production, all 32 hours of the Festian day. Jyn realized she had been holding her breath for who knows how long, and her exhale formed a cloud and obscured the landscape before her. 

She should’ve said no. She should’ve stood up to him. Ever since they were dragged back from Lah’mu, she’d been walking on eggshells around Krennic, scared her father would lose his job, or his life, at Krennic’s slightest whim. But she didn’t like this new direction Krennic seemed to be taking…

_Speak of the Sith,_ Jyn thought, as the doors behind her swung open and there he was. 

“Jyn, it’s freezing out here.” His coat was off before Jyn could react.

“Krennic, don’t.” He pushed his coat towards her, and she pushed it away. Unable to look at him anymore, Jyn turned back to the empty glacier. 

“Jyn, don’t be like that.” He stepped closer, and she could feel his hot breath on her back. She squeezed her eyes shut, praying that he would give up and go away. But he didn’t go away. He didn’t speak, just stood there, closer than any boss should stand to his employee’s daughter.

All at once, his hand was on her hip and his lips at the base of her neck. Jyn snapped.

She whirled to face him, the fabric of her skirt tearing in his hand and her elbow landing squarely in his gut. Krennic doubled over and coughed, and Jyn looked down on him from above from the first time in her life. And then she ran off into the freezing Festian night.


	4. When everything's dark, keeps us from the stark reality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title lyrics from Waiting for the Night by Depeche Mode

Jyn had to admit to herself that she was lost. Again. She ran long and hard away from Krennic and the base, enjoying the sting of the cold air in her lungs and the exertion. And now she was lost. 

Not only that but, now that she wasn’t running, she was freezing as well. Freezing, lost, and alone on an unfamiliar planet. Great.

A humming noise interrupted Jyn’s thoughts. As she wandered, the sound grew louder until she recognized it as muffled music. The streets of Anavah were relatively empty, but there were people congregating outside a building on the corner, the source of the music. Jyn looked up at the frost covered sign which read _The Black Rose._

This was the club Cassian had mentioned, the one where she’d see some real Mirialan dancing. Part of her thought this was a terrible idea, but the rest of her was too cold to care. Jyn entered The Black Rose with her chin held high, pretending like she did this every night. 

But the locals knew she definitely did not do this every night. Eyes were on her, but once they saw her Mirialan jumpsuit, people shrugged it off. 

Jyn found a corner to warm up in and plan her next move. She should just ask someone to borrow their holopad, call Bodhi, and get him to pick her up. She scanned the crowd for an easy target, but soon was distracted by the dance floor.

Cassian wasn’t kidding when he said this was where the real Mirialan dancing was at. The dance floor was one bouncing mass of shimmying shoulders and swinging hips. Everyone had their partners, but they also all formed one unit, reacting to every drum fill and hallikset riff together. It was beautiful, she had to admit.

And there, in the center of the dance floor, of course, was Cassian. He was wearing a tank top and an unbuttoned dress shirt that flowed when he spun. He danced with a boy with purple eyes, both of them drenched in sweat, spinning around, arms entwined. Jyn couldn’t help staring, daring Cassian to notice her. 

The song ended and he finally did. He froze like a statue, one arm in the air, mouth wide open. After a second, the spell was broken and he put his arm down and clapped for the band. After whispering something to the purple-eyed boy, Cassian threaded his way through the crowd towards her, an incredulous grin on his face.

“Jyn, you… you’re here.” He gestured around the club. His hair was sticking to his forehead from the sweat, and he was plain out of breath.

“I am.” She smiled back at him and crossed her arms.

“So, the Rec Club party wasn’t all you expected?” Cassian straightened out his back and put his arms up in a stiff frame, mocking a waltz. “I’ve worked Imperial parties before. Trust me, I know.” 

“I thought I’d expand my horizons a little bit.” Jyn let herself loosen up and laughed. It was strange how safe she suddenly felt, in a random nightclub in the middle of the night, with a boy she had met only a week ago…

“Would you like to dance?” Cassian asked her as the music started back up again. Jyn noticed that the purple-eyed boy had left the crowd and was staring at them from the bar. 

“Only if it’s okay with your date.” Jyn nodded in the direction of the purple-eyed boy, and Cassian turned to see who she was talking about. 

“Oh, he’s not my date.” Cassian waved to the boy, then took Jyn’s hand and led her to the dance floor. 

That was when Jyn remembered she didn’t know how to dance. She stood there for a moment with her arms up in the very frame Cassian had just mocked, looking around at the effortless crowd, feeling stupid. They were all so close, hands everywhere, taking Jyn back to an uncomfortable place she’d been trying to ignore.

But Cassian came to her rescue. He knew she was uneasy. He gently lowered her arms and loosened up his shoulders, stepping towards her in a simple salsa step. Jyn looked down at his feet and recognized the pattern. 

“On the twos,” he whispered, and she fell into the pattern with him. Pause, back, three, four, pause, forward, three, four. She could do this. Cassian put up his hands almost in a boxing stance, but he moved them soft circles. Jyn mimicked him, and he smiled. “Good.” 

Cassian reached out to her hands, hovering just over them, asking for permission to take them. Jyn slid her hands into his and let him wrap her arms around his neck. They were closer now, but not too close. Cassian gently placed his hands on her hips.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“I’m good,” she replied, dragging her eyes up from the floor where she’d been studying their feet. Cassian’s smile was subtle, but there was a warmth in his eyes and a joy that just radiated off of him on the dance floor. He was a completely different person here than the timid waiter at the base. Cassian was at home. He was confident. The nagging thoughts in the back of his mind were banished while the music played. 

Taking her hand again, Cassian spun Jyn around, her half skirt fluttering around her. He circled his hand around his head, bringing her hand back to its place at the base of his neck. Jyn was almost jealous that he could just dance without focusing. He had a big grin on his face and she was frowning trying to keep up with him.

Jyn barely noticed the song ending, but Cassian pulled away after the decrescendo to cheer for the band. Then, the dancers suddenly stepped back, creating an open space in the center of the floor. Cassian took Jyn’s hand and they too left the floor. 

A couple emerged from the crowd, a yellow Mirialan boy and a Rutian Twi’lek girl. Their dance was intense and slow, and they swept the floor with their eyes mostly closed, knowing every move their partner was going to make.

“That’s Corran and Mirax, the king and queen of The Black Rose. When they dance, the floor is theirs.” Cassian explained to Jyn. 

“They’re amazing,” Jyn breathed, a little mesmerized. Then she thought of that time she had seen Cassian dancing in the gazebo, easy and graceful. “But I think you could hang with them.”

Cassian looked at her, trying to fight a big, stupid grin from taking over his whole face. “Come on, let’s get something to drink.”

They sat down at the bar, parched from all the dancing. Cassian convinced her to try some bioluminescent juice imported from Felucia, and Jyn was surprised it wasn’t disgusting. The two sat quietly for a moment, watching Corran and Mirax finish their dance, and then the crowd resumed the usual.

“Who’s this Imp chick dancing with my brother?” A tall, mixed man with traditional Mirialan tattoos under his eyes came up behind Cassian and draped his arm over Cassian’s shoulder. Cassian shrugged him off and said something that sounded harsh in Mirialan. The man backed off and laughed.

“Cevran, this is Jyn. Jyn, this is my brother.” Cassian introduced them. Jyn gave Cevran a firm handshake. She could tell he was sizing her up, trying to figure her out. She chose not to make it easy for him.

“What’s an Imp doing in a bar like this, eh? Enjoying the Festian night life while you can?” Cevran sneered.

“What do you mean by that?” Jyn asked. Cassian suddenly looked like he wanted to crawl out of his skin.

“I mean, someday, someone’s gonna run you out of this town.” Cevran crossed his arms, obvious in his attempt to be intimidating, but Jyn didn’t flinch.

“Cev, knock it off,” Cassian complained, giving his brother a look.

“Cassi here doesn’t like to talk about the Rebellion. He’s scared he’ll lose his cushy job kissing your asses.” Cevran punched Cassian on the shoulder playfully, teasing him. “One day, he’ll figure it out.” Cevran laughed a deep, throaty laugh, and disappeared into the crowd.

“Well, he’s a character,” Jyn commented.

“I’m sorry. He was being an ass.” Cassian was leaning on the bar and had his head in his hand, peeking through his fingers to look over at Jyn.

“I’ve met bigger asses on the other side.” Jyn thought back to the Imperial party. It felt like it had happened ages ago, and being here in this bar with Cassian was all she could remember. 

“Yeah, it’s pretty hard to call anyone else an ass when you’ve met Krennic.” Cassian relaxed again and smiled.

“Yeah…” Jyn trailed off, the spell broken. She was thinking about it again. Subconsciously, she played with the loose threads at the seam of her half skirt where it had torn.

Cassian opened his mouth to say make a joke, but then his eyes found the tear in her jumpsuit. Jyn quickly let her arms fall, concealing the mangled seam and smoothing out the fabric.

“What happened?” His face became completely serious all at once. 

Jyn held his eye contact, unsure how to begin, or even if she should begin. But somehow, she was transparent to Cassian.

“Did Krennic…” Jyn flinched, and Cassian knew. “That skulking womp rat.” Cassian added some Mirialan expletives. “Jyn… I’m sorry.”

Jyn’s exhaustion suddenly caught up with her. She had put up a lot of walls tonight, and the effort of keeping them up was starting to wear her down. “It’s fine.” She avoided his eyes. “I just… I think I want to go home.”

“Let me walk you back,” Cassian offered, grabbing his coat from a labeled hook on the wall. He offered Jyn his hand and she took it, and he led her outside. He draped the jacket over her shoulders and they left The Black Rose, bracing for the biting cold of the Festian night air.

* * * * *

They walked mostly in silence, the buzz of the heat lamps filling the air. The streets of Anavah meandered like winding rivers, but Cassian navigated them easily. They stopped at one intersection and Cassian pointed down the western road. The buildings were fewer and far between down this road, and in the distance, Jyn could see little domes of ice.

“That’s my family’s farm,” Cassian told her. 

“What can you even farm here?” Jyn asked, incredulous that anything could grow here. 

“We farm underground. The ice sheets are crystal clear to the west so our crops can get sunlight through it, and the ice is actually a good insulator.” Cassian explained, talking with his hands a lot.

“Huh, never would’ve guessed.” Jyn was amused. She really had judged this planet a little too quickly. It might be cold and remote, but there was a lot more to it than that. 

“Maybe I’ll show you some time.” The corner of Cassian’s mouth turned into a smile, and he snuck a glance over at her. 

“I think I’d like that.” Jyn met his eyes, and he looked away, sheepishly. “What’s your family like?” She asked.

“There’s five of us. Four boys, Cevran, me, and the twins Tezi and Synji, and one girl, Elya. My sister is the youngest, but she’s the boss, except for my mother. And Cevran’s son Chetlian lives with us too. He’s a few years younger than my little sister.” Cassian again got very animated as he talked about his family, scrunching up his nose and bobbing his head to imitate bossy Elya. “I think Elya would like you.”

“Oh, really?” Jyn raised an eyebrow.

“Right now, you look like one of the princesses in her holo-books.” Cassian laughed and gestured at Jyn’s emerald jumpsuit. “But you’re pretty brave, Jyn. She likes when the princesses don’t wait around for a prince to save them.” 

Jyn didn’t know quite how to respond to that, so she just looked down at her feet in a vain attempt to hide the color rising to her cheeks. “Was she who you were dancing with that day in the gazebo?”

“Yes, she’s quite the dancer already.” Cassian smiled. 

The street made a wide turn and they found themselves in front of the Imperial base. Jyn slowed to a stop and turned to Cassian, not quite sure she was ready to say goodbye. As tough as he acted, his teeth were chattering now.

“Why don’t you come in and warm up for a bit?” Jyn offered. 

Cassian shoved his trembling fingers in his pockets. “I can’t go in with you. Staff aren’t supposed to mingle with guests.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Jyn looked up at the looming base, reminded of all her built up anger. The outside of it was a dark metal, ugly and colder looking than all of Anavah. She sighed, and took off Cassian’s coat, handing it back to him.

As Cassian took it he studied her. He could see the disgust in her eyes as she looked at the base, and he felt a little of his own frustrations spill out. But the feeling was overshadowed by something else newer, something hopeful. If people like Jyn could exist, then maybe the galaxy wasn’t doomed to eternal Imperial misery after all. 

He held out his hand to shake. Jyn raised an eyebrow at it, then shook it. “Thanks for walking me home.” 

“I’m sorry your evening was… so difficult.” There was a warm, quiet sincerity in Cassian’s eyes as he spoke.

“Not all of it was.” Jyn smiled at him, surprised at the situation and herself, but mostly grateful. She said goodbye and headed into the base, looking back at him only once. He was still standing there, coat in hand, ignoring his shivering, watching until she was safely inside. 

Jyn scanned her hand to enter the building and slipped inside the dark, empty lobby. The warmth of the room was almost overwhelming at first, but very welcome. She tiptoed into the lift so her shoes wouldn’t make so much noise on the marble floor, and was back in her room and under her covers in a matter of minutes. 

But even though she had been alone in the lobby, someone had watched Jyn. From the security staff room, smoking an e-cigarra, Krennic watched her say goodbye to a Mirialan staff worker, then sneak back up to her room on the security holos. He recognized the Mirialan instantly as the one who had spilled purple drinks everywhere the day Jyn had arrived. He made a quick note on his holopad to have the Mirialan fired in the morning, then went to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to Michael A. Stackpole in this chapter! I borrowed the names Corran and Mirax ;) If you haven't read his X-Wing series you should sooooo check it out!


	5. You opened up my mind so, I'm waiting to believe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title lyrics from Gem by Zoot Woman

In the morning, the base was bustling, in preparation for the arrival of Grand Moff Tarkin. Tarkin wasn’t the party type, so all the decadence and luxury of the day before was swept into the corners. Officers who were regularly hammered by noon stood in neat rows in the lobby in full uniform, and Krennic stood in front of them, his white suit freshly ironed and his cape billowing around him as stormtroopers opened the doors for Tarkin’s entrance. Galen stood just behind Krennic, first in line as lead scientist.

Jyn, Bodhi, and the flyboys watched from the hallway to the Rec Hub, eager to see Krennic get scolded, as he always did when Tarkin stooped to scrutinize his science division. They couldn’t quite hear the conversation, but they could tell what was happening based on Krennic’s rare kiss ass face, and Tarkin’s eternally unimpressed, resting bitch face. Jyn could just see her father’s face too, and she thought Galen might have suppressed a laugh or two at the exchange. 

“You know, I used to hope that when I graduate, I would be assigned to _any_ division besides Tarkin’s, but then I remembered that _all_ the Moffs are like that,” Bodhi complained.

“Quit flight school then,” Jyn only half joked.

“I’ll drop out of flight school if you drop out of officer training,” Bodhi replied. She squinted at him, not sure if they were on the same level of seriousness, but also not caring.

“It’s a deal.” She shook his hand and they both laughed a little too loud, drawing the attention of some of the officers in the back rows. 

“Come on guys, with all the officers out here, we have the Rec Hub all to ourselves.” Phelos was incapable of whispering, but he did his best to keep his voice down so only the flyboys and Jyn could hear him.

The squad snuck down the hall and into the Rec Hub, and Jyn reluctantly followed. The boys hit up the bar for the first time, since it was always crowded. Phelos hopped on one of the bar seats and realized they spun, so he grabbed the counter and launched himself into a spiral like a child on a playground. The bartender just rolled his eyes and started taking orders.

Jyn scanned the mostly empty Rec Hub and peered around the bar, frowning. 

“Is he here?” Bodhi asked her.

“Shh!” She scolded him, not wanting the rest of the flyboys to know, and also a little embarrassed that Bodhi read her like that. “I don’t see him.”

“Does he have today off?” 

“I don’t know.”

“What’s all this whispering about, lads?” The novelty of the spinning chairs had finally worn off for Phelos, and he took interest in Jyn and Bodhi’s conversation.

“Piss off, Phelos,” Jyn laughed. Phelos mimed being shot in the heart by her harsh words. 

“Sorry Miss, didn’t mean to intrude on Officer in Training business…” He waggled a finger at Jyn’s uniform, which was fancier than the gray flight suits the flyboys all had to wear for Tarkin’s arrival. Jyn didn’t waste the energy replying to him, as he got enough attention from the rest of the flyboys anyway.

“I’m going to look around for a moment,” Jyn told Bodhi and he winked teasingly. 

“I’ll hold down the fort,” Bodhi saluted her and gestured at the flyboys, who were now engaged in a round robin arm wrestling tournament. 

Jyn left the bar and snuck around behind it. She poked her head in the kitchen and checked each of the exercise rooms just in case, but there was no sign of him. She even followed a long hallway and tried the door to the employee break room, but it wouldn’t unlock for her handprint. 

“He’s not here.” Jyn whirled, and Krennic was standing in the center of the hallway. He was only a couple inches taller than her, but in this long, plain hallway, she felt like she was shrinking and he was growing taller and taller.

“What are you talking about?” Jyn played dumb.

“Be careful about the company you keep here, Jyn Erso. The locals can be… untrustworthy.” He spun around and strode down the hallway and back to the Rec Hub, conscious of the way his cape swirled dramatically around him. Jyn let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding, then ran to find Bodhi.

The flyboys had been kicked out of the bar area now that the officers had been released, and Jyn couldn’t find them at first. On her way to the back corner hot tubs they usually frequented, Jyn was stopped by one of the dance teachers handing out holo-flyers. The instructor was a slender, green Mirialan wearing her hair up in a tight, hairsprayed bun.

“Hey, I’ve seen you in the studio, haven’t I? You should enter the dance contest!” She urged and gave Jyn a tiny holoplayer. Jyn mumbled a noncommittal response and continued on her way, only processing the words the dance teacher had said after the exchange was over. Dance contest? 

Jyn opened her hand and let the tiny holoplayer show its flyer. It announced a Freestyle Ballroom competition starting three weeks, and the finals were the week after at the base’s Empire Day party. The winners would receive five thousand credits and a trip to an Imperial resort on Alderaan. Jyn scoffed and almost tossed the player, but then an idea struck her. A very stupid, almost amazing idea.

* * * * *

Bodhi told her she’d probably die if she walked all the way to Cassian’s farm in the freezing cold, so she rented an Imperial speeder. On the rental form, none of the _reasons for rental_ quite fit what Jyn was about to do, so she lied and said she left some items at school. Which was true, she did in fact leave her holopad at school because she never did her homework, but she had no intention of retrieving it. 

Jyn may or may not have driven in at least one circle before she found the cross street that Cassian had pointed out the night before. As she sped out of the city, she looked behind her and noticed how small Anavah was. Of course, as far as cities go, it was nothing compared to Coruscant. But looking on Anavah from outside, from the vast expanses of ice as far as the eye could see, coating all of Fest, the city felt particularly small.

As the domes Cassian pointed out approached, Jyn could now see that they had doors and hexagonal windows. She pulled off the road and down a shovelled out driveway that exposed the crystalline ice underneath the snow. The driveway led to the closest of the domes, so she decided to start there. She jumped out of the speeder and approached the door. 

The banks of the driveway were steep and loomed well over Jyn’s head. A figure suddenly came flying down the slope on a sled screaming and laughing, and almost knocked Jyn over. Once the sled skidded to a stop, the face of a little girl peered out of a fluffy coat back at Jyn.

“Elya!” A voice called from inside the home, and a woman opened the door to yell in Mirialan. Then, the woman noticed Jyn. “Oh, hello…” She seemed confused and almost a little frightened to see someone in an Imperial jacket standing in her driveway.

“Hi, um… I’m a friend of Cassian’s, from the Base.” Jyn started.

“Oh, I didn’t know he had friends at the Base.” She replied in a thick accent.

“Uh, is he here?” Jyn tried to see into the house, but it was too dark for her to make anything out. 

The woman squinted. “No, he’s at work. You don’t see him there?” 

“Jyn, you’re Jyn!” Elya interrupted. She had a big grin on her face. “Cev! Cevie! Jyn is here.” She yelled into the house, and Cevran popped his head out of the door. He recognized Jyn and told his mother something in Mirialan. She rolled her eyes, then went back inside.

“What are you doing here?” Cevran crossed his arms. 

“I came to see Cassian… I need to talk to him.” Jyn felt a wave of guilt wash over her. If only she had just run up to her room instead of out into Anavah in the middle of the night, none of this would’ve happened… 

“You got him fired. Isn’t that enough?” 

Jyn looked down at her feet. “I know a way he can make some money.”

Cevran sighed. “Come on.” He nodded his head to his right, where a set of stairs were carved into the snow embankment. “And Elya,” Cevran pulled his hand over his mouth to mime zipping up his lips. Elya nodded and did the same, then smiled at Jyn.

Jyn followed Cevran up the steep steps and across a vast field of ice and snow. She noticed several large areas that had been cleared of snow, which she assumed were the farming plots Cassian had told her about. By the time they reached their destination, Jyn was worried her hands were going to fall off from the cold. They entered another dome a ways out, where a group of men were fixing up speeders and droids. The men gave her weird looks, but Cevran told them to mind their business. He descended a narrow spiral staircase, and at the bottom, Jyn was surprised to see hundreds of Imperial droids, weapons, and technology scattered about, on tables, in pieces, and all painted various colors. 

In the back corner, sitting cross legged with his back to her, was Cassian. He was spraying paint over the black legs of a half assembled K2 unit, adding orange stripes and concealing the unit’s serial number. 

“Cassi.” Cevran called to him. Cassian turned, his face smudged with grease and orange splatter on his hands. 

Cassian jumped up immediately. “Cevie, what is she doing here?” He rushed over, wiping the orange off his hands on a multi-colored rag. Cevran put his hands up and walked away to tinker with some droid parts.

“Cassian, I… I feel terrible about what happened. I had to see you. I went to your house—”

“My house? You told my mother I was fired?” Panic rose in Cassian’s voice. 

“No, I just told her I wanted to talk to you. I’m sorry you got fired.” Jyn almost whispered the final sentence, ashamed. Cassian twisted the rag in his hands nervously. 

“No, it’s my fault. I knew better.” Cassian turned away and put the rag on a table, trading it for a droid arm that belonged to the K2 unit he was working on. He fiddled with the wires, then strode back over to the droid to begin attaching it. 

Jyn followed him slowly, careful not to step on anything or trip over wires. “Is this your new job?” She asked.

Cevran laughed behind her. “That’s right. You make ‘em, we steal ‘em. Isn’t that right, Cassi?” Cassian just gave him a dirty look and went back to stripping and connecting wires on the droid.

“Cassian, there’s this dance contest during the Empire Day celebration. It’s at an Imperial club on the moon. I think you should go.” Jyn dug around in her pockets until she found the mini holoplayer with the flyer on it. 

“And see if they need any busboys?” Cassian didn’t turn to face her, just kept working on the K2 unit.

“That’s not what I meant. I could get you into the contest. You’d have to be my partner, but....” Saying it out loud, Jyn was struck by how utterly idiotic this was, but she didn’t let it show. It wouldn’t be that hard, would it? They were both dancers in different ways. Well, Jyn hadn’t danced seriously in years, and she was pretty sure the judges wouldn’t love what Cassian was used to doing at the Black Rose, but it would work. It had to work.

Cassian finally faced her, and the corners of his mouth betrayed a smile. “Me? Dance with you?”

“Am I that bad?” Jyn let out a nervous laugh. Cassian gave her a look of both amusement and disbelief, then turned back to the droid. “The semi finalists get three hundred credits. The winners get five thousand, and they get to visit Alderaan.”

She could tell his interest was piqued by the prizes, but he still refused. “Thanks, but I don’t have time.”

Jyn opened her mouth to speak again, but realized she wasn’t going to get through to him just yet. She set the mini holoplayer on one of the tables and left. The whole drive back, she was almost freaking out, wondering if she’d ever see him again. He probably didn’t care. He had better things to do than enter a dance contest with some random Imp girl who took a few ballet and Cantonican ballroom classes years ago. 

That night, Cassian went home to keep the kids occupied while his mother made dinner. Tezi and Synji were wrestling and Elya was bouncing off the walls as usual, bringing some snow in from outside and putting it down the back of Chetlian’s shirt. Chetlian ran away screaming, and Cassian caught him and held him upside down, letting the snow fall from his shirt and making him giggle. Throwing Chet over his shoulder, he scooped up Elya too and took them both to the dinner table. Cevran was just leaving with some of his buddies from the workshop, carrying boxes full of who-knows-what. 

“You’re not staying for dinner?” Cassian already knew the answer to his question.

“I’ve got some things to deliver.” Cev quipped.

“It would be nice if you stayed around to help with your family and your own kid once in a while.” Cassian sat Chet down on one side of him and Elya on the other. They tried to grab each other, and Cassian fended off their arms.

“Someday you’ll realize I am helping them.” Cevran picked up the last of the boxes and left the house, not even looking back. 

Cassian sighed and looked at his family. His mother rushed in with a bowl of mash and a plate of steamed jogun fruit from the underground garden, cursing under her breath because the plate was burning her hand. Tezi and Synji both reached for a slice of jogun fruit, but Tezi spit his piece out after burning his tongue and Synji just dropped his on his plate. His mother scolded them and went back into the kitchen to make sure she hadn’t left the burners on. Elya and Chetlian were still trying to climb over Cassian to get to each other. 

He couldn’t help but think about what even three hundred credits could do to help his family. And for an Imp, Jyn moved well. He didn’t have a regular hours job, and he needed the money, and it might even be fun, and Jyn was kind of cute… 

As Jyn rushed to meet Bodhi in the quad after school the next day, there was someone else waiting for her. He stood just outside the decorative gates of the academy, trying to look inconspicuous, and failing miserably. When their eyes met, a smile spread across his face, and then he broke eye contact. 

“Hi,” Jyn approached him with a smirk. Cassian bit his lip, not sure how to start. 

“So this contest… Does it cost money to enter?” Cassian asked.

“No.”

“I don’t think the Imperial judges will appreciate my Mirialan dancing.” He was still being stubborn about it.

“It’s Freestyle Ballroom. If we mix what you do with what I do, I think we can make it work.” Jyn insisted.

“I still have to teach you everything.”

“Not everything. I’ll have to teach you a few things too.”


	6. And if I need a rhythm, gonna be to my heart I listen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title lyrics from Ramalama (Bang Bang) by Róisín Murphy B) she's my icon

_Pause, back, three, four. Pause forward, three, four._ Jyn’s brain had been repeating the same phrases over and over and over for the past hour. _Now for the spin. Pause, forward, pivot, together._ She used someone’s graffiti on the far wall of the Black Rose as her spot, spinning quickly, her eyes only leaving the spot when her neck was stretched to its limit, then she whirled her head around to find the spot again and finish her turn. Jyn reached out her left hand to hold Cassian’s again, but he pulled away. Cassian spun too, dragging his hand in a circle over his head and rolling his shoulders. 

Jyn’s shoulders dropped. “What are you doing?” 

Cassian opened his eyes, remembering he was in the Black Rose at nine in the morning, well before the place was open for business. It was weird to see it like this, but he was grateful the owner liked him and let them practice there if they promised to help him carry boxes after. Jyn was staring at him expectantly. Cassian just shrugged his shoulders. “Just dancing.”

“This is a routine. You can’t just do what you feel like.” Jyn pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of her pocket and held it up.

“When I dance, I have no routine,” Cassian retorted. He knew he was pissing her off just a little bit, but he couldn’t help it if his subconscious could create a better dance than Jyn’s chicken scratch on a piece of paper.

“But this is a competition. We need structure.” Jyn waved the paper, exasperated. 

“Can I see that?” Cassian snatched it from her and tore it in half as he headed towards the holoplayer. He was sick of listening to the designated, basic song they had to dance to for the competition. He scrolled through Jyn’s recent songs and smiled to himself when he saw the popular Mirialan song he had seen her trying to dance to in the Rec Hub. He clicked it and the upbeat intro kicked in.

“Hey!” Jyn crossed her arms. 

“First, you learn to move, and then we worry about lists and words.” He walked back over to her slowly, trying to figure out how he was going to explain something in Galactic Basic that he’d never even described in Mirialan before.

“Fine.” Jyn relented and dropped her arms to her sides. She still stood up perfectly straight, and Cassian couldn’t tell if it was her classical training or nerves, or some combination thereof. He looked her up and down and decided to start with the part that needed the most work. 

“See this?” Cassian pointed to the bony corners of his waist. “These are your hips.” His words dripped with sarcasm.

“I know what hips are.” Jyn squinted at him.

“Then let’s see you move your hips,” Cassian matched her tone. “In a circle.” He moved his own hips fluidly, then waited for her to copy him.

Jyn gingerly placed her hands on her hips and began attempting a circle. Cassian chuckled to himself, because it really just looked like she had to pee.

“That’s a box.” 

Jyn sputtered and stopped making jagged shapes with her hips. She looked down at the floor. She had her hair tied up in a high ponytail, and most of the shorter strands in the front didn’t reach, so they fell into her eyes. Maybe Cassian had been a little hard on her. She was so different from any other Imp he had met, but she was still raised by them. And he was sure there were no hip movement classes in the officer training curriculum.

“Here, let me help you.” Cassian stepped closer to her. “May I?” He hovered his hands over her waist. She nodded, and he placed his hands gently near the bottom of her ribcage. “Your ribcage and your hips, they are separate. They can twist and move independently from each other.” 

Cassian’s hands guided her ribs to the left and to the right while her hips remained still, using muscles she didn’t even know she had. Jyn’s hands subconsciously found their old ballet positions below her waist. To Cassian, it looked as though she was holding a hamburger. He lifted his hands from her ribcage and placed them on her hips.

“Now move your hips without moving your ribcage.” He let Jyn do most of the work, side to side, moving her hips almost like a real Mirialan now. “Now try a circle again.” Jyn was better at it this time, making a hexagon, but still not at circle level. Cassian slid his hands to the small of her back and below her belly button, trying to correct the corners. Jyn suddenly tensed and wriggled out, backing away.

“Do you have to be such a guy?” Her words were sharp. They came from a place of fear, of pain. Jyn squeezed her eyes shut, trying to banish the memories the skin on her hips held of Krennic. When she opened them again and saw Cassian, she knew he understood. His hands were clenched in fists, and she could see the guilt in his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Cassian whispered. He opened his hands and looked down at his palms. Jyn relaxed, remembering that she was here with Cassian, not anyone else. This was just a dance lesson. After her posture changed, he spoke again. “You know what, I’ll be the girl.” A smile crept onto his face. He shrugged his unbuttoned, short sleeve dress shirt off his shoulders, then licked his fingers and smoothed down his eyebrows. He shimmied his shoulders and pretended to shake what his mama didn’t give him.

Jyn couldn’t help but laugh, watching him imitate young, desperate girls who had snuck into the club before they were old enough and felt like they had something to prove on the dancefloor. “Alright, enough,” Jyn begged. Cassian was still feeling his fantasy until Jyn switched the music back to the contest track. She resumed her upright, uptight frame and waited for Cassian to join her. 

“Did you learn nothing?” He joked, then took her hands.

“I learned something. Now you need to learn a proper frame.” They began the basic step again. _Pause, back, three four. Pause, forward, three, four._ When Jyn stepped forward, Cassian’s arms were loose, and the distance between them shrunk. “Your frame is really weak.”

Cassian scoffed, then straightened his back and gripped her hand tight. “Better?” He flashed the old grin he used to give officers at the Rec Hub when they were too drunk to remember what they had ordered and claimed he got their order wrong.

“I could do without the bruises, thanks.” Jyn squinted at him, and he loosened his grip. They moved back and forth, pushing and pulling, Jyn staying stiff, and Cassian adding a little kick to his forward step to spice it up.

Cassian looked down at the space between them. “We can fit another couple in between us.” 

“It’s not going to be a crowded club. We have to sweep across the dance floor.” Jyn gestured to the space around them, the empty Black Rose dance floor. She was wracking her brains, trying to remember every little detail she had learned from her ballet classes and that stupid show they used to air, _Dancing in the Stars,_ where Imperial Moffs and commanders were trained in Cantonican ballroom for the entertainment of their peers. If only she had opted into the Cantonican ballroom class at the academy. Maybe she could still switch… 

“Okay, I can sweep.” Cassian waited a step, then started flying across the dance floor in a large circle, dragging Jyn with. She could barely keep her steps in time with the music.

“What are you doing?” She clung to his hands for dear life.

“I’m sweeping,” Cassian replied, a teasing smile on his face. His steps were definitely too big, and Jyn was sure if she was wearing dancing heels instead of sneakers, she would’ve fallen flat on her face. But she was kind of having fun.

Ending their sweep, Cassian spun Jyn around, the momentum almost knocking her over, but he caught her and dipped her. “Okay, show off. Can we at least decide on a number of bars to sweep before you pretend to drop me?” 

“Fine.” Cassian lifted her back up and steadied her. 

Jyn grabbed her bag from on top of the bar and pulled out her holopad, but it was dead, as usual. She sighed and pulled out the old fashioned pen and paper she had come to rely on when she lacked the foresight to charge her holopad. 

“Three eight counts of sweeping, then a spin and a dip,” She muttered to herself, taking notes. “Can we practice that again?” They started the song over and began with a simple step, then broke into a sweep. This time, Jyn was more able to keep up, holding her frame.

“It’s like dancing with my mother’s ironing board,” Cassian laughed. Jyn dropped her hands and stopped dancing, annoyed. “Jyn, come on. It was better the first time when you weren’t so tense. The judges will smell your fear.” He leaned in and whispered the last sentence into her ear.

“I’m not afraid,” Jyn retorted.

“Sure, okay.” Cassian put his hands up in surrender. He glanced at the clock on the wall, then threw his jacket on. “I gotta help Cev with some things. See you here, tonight?” 

“To practice? With everyone here?” Jyn looked around at the empty club, imagining it alive with patrons, doubting they’d get any actual practice in.

“We’ll practice, yes. And we’ll be surrounded by inspiration.” Cassian gestured around and shimmied his shoulders like the girls he was mocking earlier. Once he finally got Jyn to crack a smile, he waved goodbye and took off. Jyn watched him go, then sighed to herself. 

She wasn’t afraid, was she? She was just… nervous about winning the contest. Not the same thing. At all. Cassian wasn’t making her nervous. It was just all this sudden pressure of taking this contest more seriously than any of her classes. Right?

* * * * *

“And then he implied that I was afraid,” Jyn complained. She rubbed her temples and looked over at Bodhi. They were laying in recliner chairs in the Rec Hub while the flyboys had a cannonball contest in a nearby pool. Jyn was really getting sick of the heat in the place. They kept the Rec Hub pool deck a balmy beach temperature, and all it did was make Jyn sweaty and dehydrated.

“Well, what are you afraid of?” Bodhi asked, rolling over to face Jyn and propping his head up on one arm.

“I’m not afraid.” Jyn looked Bodhi right in the eyes as she said it.

“Are you sure? Everyone’s afraid of something.” Bodhi challenged her.

“Well I’m afraid of rathtars. You remember that one biology trip I had to take to Twon Ketee in year seven.” Jyn had a flashback to collecting pond scum to study microorganisms, except she accidentally stumbled upon a rathtar’s nest.

“Jyn, everyone is afraid of rathtars.” Bodhi’s tone was deadpan, but Jyn remained stubborn and expressionless. “Listen, I’m terrified of… of failing my flight exams,” Bodhi continued. “And even if I do pass them, I’m scared I’ll hate chauffeuring Moffs around so much that I’ll have a nervous breakdown or defect to the Rebellion or something.”

“Bodhi, you’re top of your class. You’re gonna do fine on your exams and–”

“Jyn, don’t change the subject.” Bodhi stopped her. She closed her mouth and crossed her arms, still refusing to admit. There was nothing to admit. Bodhi changed his tone. “Is this about Krennic–”

“Shh!” Jyn hushed Bodhi as Phelos climbed out of the pool and jogged over to where they were sitting so he could have a long run up to the pool. They waited for Phelos to get into a sprinter’s position and launch himself into the pool creating a big enough splash to soak all the flyboys watching on the far side of the pool.

“Jyn, I’m sorry…” Bodhi began.

“No one can know.” Jyn whispered. She could just about guess what the flyboys and the officers would think if they knew. There had been a girl in her class who dropped out a year back after some scandal with an instructor. _She slept with him for a recommendation,_ they had said. _What a slut._ Her classmates still gossiped about it. Jyn couldn’t let them think anything about her and Krennic. So no one besides Bodhi and Cassian would ever know. Not even her parents.


	7. Bit too shy to jump in, but when it comes to you, I can't win

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't worked on this in a month because I've been busy with other fics haha but don't worry, I'm back at it again at Krispy Kreme  
> Chapter title lyrics from You Know Me Better by Róisín Murphy again because I love her

The Black Rose was just as lively as it always was when Jyn arrived, this time in overalls and a tank top, not about to draw as much attention to herself as she did the first time in her emerald Mirialan pantsuit. Jyn saw Cassian’s coat hanging on the wall and hung hers next to it, then went to look for him. At the bar, she found him arguing with Cevran in Mirialan. It seemed like a bad time to interrupt so she held back, but Cassian spotted her and made a quick exit from the conversation.

“Hey, everything alright?” Jyn asked him. 

Cassian shot his brother a dirty look and replied, “It’s fine. You know how he is. Come on, let’s dance.” Cassian shook off the stress and led Jyn to the dance floor. 

They started with a basic step, but Cassian was quick to mix it up. He spun Jyn around so she faced away from him cha-cha-cha stepped to follow her. She spun back around the next measure, mirroring his cha-cha-cha step and with her hand on his shoulder.

“Someone’s been doing a little homework.” Cassian smiled, letting her lead them in a gradual circle.

“Maybe.” Jyn winked. Instead of her usual distractions on her holopad in class today, she had been studying holonet dance videos, watching old episodes of _Dancing in the Stars_ from when she was little and mentally rehearsing along with a holoseries called “Mirialan Ballroom Styles for Dummies.” Cassian raised an eyebrow, impressed. Maybe Jyn had done all that in hopes that he’d be impressed.

The dance floor was growing more crowded, pushing Jyn and Cassian closer together. The couple behind Jyn got a little wild, the man dipping his partner and holding her there. She shook her head and her wild, curly hair hit Jyn, startling her. Cassian wrapped an arm around her waist and swung them around so the wild couple was behind him instead. Jyn met his eyes, and Cassian repeated his mocking shimmy from their morning practice. Jyn giggled.

The song began to fade out and the crowd calmed down a little. But the next song they broke into was faster and more intense than the last, and the crowd picked up right where they left off. Jyn could tell by the look on Cassian’s face that this was a classic. He let go of her hands to spin and strike a pose, then sauntered back to Jyn. She readied her frame, but Cassian grabbed her hands and spun her around, their arms twisting. Instead of letting go, Cassian spun himself around, untangling their arms. It all happened so fast, Jyn could barely keep up.

“Hey, slow down,” Jyn leaned over to speak in his ear, but he took that as an opportunity to drag his arm in a circle around her head. 

“The band picked the tempo. I just respond to it.” Cassian let go of her hands and stepped backward. With his right foot, he tapped the floor, heel, toe, heel, then pushed off that foot to spin himself around. 

Jyn stood there, suddenly feeling stupid. Cassian looked up and noticed she had abandoned even the basic step. He tamped down his enthusiasm a little bit and returned to Jyn to teach her his little toe tap move. It was too much for her to understand instantly when observing, but she picked it up quickly once he broke it down.

“Where’s your pen and paper now? Should we write this down for you?” Cassian teased. In time with the rhythm, Jyn pushed his shoulder and he used the momentum to make a double turn. 

“What if we just fought for the entire routine?” Jyn suggested, only a little seriously. 

“That’s called the pasodoble,” Cassian laughed. “And I think that one’s a little too advanced for you.” Cassian stomped on the floor and grabbed the corner of his unbuttoned shirt, holding it up like a matador, as if Jyn was a Reek monster about to charge. Then he puffed out his chest and raised his arms like a bird of prey, crossing his hands and flipping his wrists above his head. His feet were a blur of syncopated steps.

“I think I can handle that.” Jyn mirrored his initial stance and stomped on the floor in her combat boots, making a little too much noise and drawing the looks of some of the nearby dancers. Cassian’s stiff posture cracked, and he doubled over laughing. 

“Let’s see you get salsa or cha-cha down first, okay?” He held out his hand, and Jyn took it. She spun herself towards him, wrapping herself in his arms. Their faces were much closer than she had anticipated, and they froze there for a minute, breathing heavy, a serious look taking over Cassian’s face, making Jyn forget that time existed. The music broke for a moment, and a smile returned to Cassian’s face. He slid his foot forward, letting Jyn lean backwards on his arm, dipping her in slow motion. 

The hallikset went quiet for a moment, and they were left with nothing but the beat. Cassian sank further and further, and Jyn was amazed they hadn’t hit the floor yet. The hallikset suddenly picked back up and Cassian sprang back and launched Jyn into a spin so fast she could barely spot. Cassian caught her arm and stopped her spin after two and a half rotations, sliding up behind her and lacing his fingers into hers. He put his other hand on her waist and pressed his body to hers. Jyn’s shirt had ridden up a little bit on the side, and Cassian’s fingers grazed her bare skin.

Suddenly, the loudness of the music and the claustrophobia of the crowd caught up with her. She was shrinking again, melting into a bubbling pool of liquid on the floor. She broke away from Cassian and turned to face him. He stopped in his tracks, confused. Jyn couldn’t find any words, so she turned and fled.

Before she knew it, Jyn was standing outside in the cold again, the air like needles in her lungs. _Fucking shit,_ she thought to herself. It wasn’t like her to freak out like that. She was Jyn Erso, tough, one of four girls in her entire class, martial arts master, year nine sharpshooting contest winner. Krennic had dragged her off that farm on Lah’mu at gunpoint. She had seen him stun her mother and order stormtroopers to lug Lyra’s unconscious body onto a transport. But Krennic’s lips on her neck left a deeper scar on her than anything he had done before.

“Jyn,” Cassian called to her, rushing out of the club after her. “Jyn, I’m sorry…”

“You didn’t do anything, Cassian.” Jyn fought the tears welling in her eyes and the quivering of her lip. She didn’t turn to look at him, not wanting him to see her like this.

“Jyn, we don’t have to do this contest. If you’re not comfortable I don’t want to make you–”

“I want to do this, but I’m… I’m afraid.” She finally admitted it, and it was like a pressure on her lungs and her head that she didn’t even know she had was just… gone. The pain was still there, but the headache was gone.

“Jyn, it’s okay. We’ll take it as slow, and we’ll only do things you feel comfortable doing.” Cassian reached out to comfort her, but then pulled his hand back and looked at his palm. Then he held his hand out again to shake. Jyn laughed a bit at the awkward gesture, but was grateful for the sentiment as she shook it.

“Thank you.”

“Of course. Come on, let’s go get our coats. It’s freezing out here.” Cassian nodded towards the door to the club, rubbing his arms.

“Ah, so he does feel cold,” Jyn commented, amused.

“Shh, don’t tell my mother.” Cassian replied as they entered the Black Rose. Cassian tossed Jyn her coat and they began the walk back to the base.

* * * * *

“So how’d you learn to dance anyway?” Jyn asked a question that had been burning in her mind since she saw him dancing in the gazebo what felt like ages ago.

“My father taught me. He used to say that my mother only put up with his personality because of his dance moves.” Cassian looked up at the night sky and smiled, but there was a sadness in his eyes. “He was a lot like Cev, always getting into arguments about politics and philosophy.”

Jyn almost asked if she could meet him, but then realized Cassian had been referring to him in entirely past tense. “Is he…” She started, but didn’t know how to continue.

“We assumed so. We had a funeral, but no one ever found his body.” Cassian fiddled with the zipper on his jacket. “I was six years old when the Empire decided to build a base here. My father and mother fled Mirial after the Clone Wars, and my father didn’t want to raise his kids the way he was forced to grow up. So he started reading up on the Rebellion.” 

Jyn was surprised he was telling her this. Sometimes she forgot that she was Imperial herself when she was around him, but she couldn’t help but remember that association with the Rebel Alliance was high treason.

“He never joined or anything, but stormtroopers came and dragged him away and gutted the house. I never saw him again.” The road they took was built over a natural creek bed, and it was constantly sinking and causing cobblestones to crack. Cassian kicked at the fractured ground, freeing a piece of stone. The two continued in silence, Cassian kicking the fragment every few steps, bringing it along with them.

A wave of guilt washed over Jyn, but she didn’t know how to express it. She didn’t know how to entangle herself from it all, or if she even could leave her parents and everything behind. “I’m sorry, Cassian… I…” 

“Shh!” Cassian stopped her, listening for something amongst the hum of the heat lamps. There were a few locals out in the early evening, and some miners coming back from shifts at the pole. A low growl grew louder and louder, and an Imperial armored transport turned the corner a few blocks away from them, stormtroopers on speeder bikes flanking it. 

From behind them, a voice shouted Cassian’s name. Cassian whirled around, confused to find Elya running towards him from the direction of the Black Rose.

“Elya? What are you doing here by yourself? I thought I programmed K2-SO to watch you and the twins.” He squatted to be eye to eye with her as she reached them, panting from her sprint.

“Momma’s at work, and I told K2 to play hide and seek. I had to find you.” She got the words out in between big breaths.

“What’s up, Yaya?” Cassian looked her over, making sure she was okay.

“Cevie came home and Momma said he had to stay with us. But he told me that he had important stuff to do, and I got scared because he took his blaster when he left.” Cassian’s heart dropped into his stomach. Cevran with a blaster was bad news. Always.

“Did he say anything else to you, Elya?” He asked, and Elya shook her head no. Cassian stood up and looked around, knowing full well Cevran wasn’t just having target practice out behind the Black Rose.


	8. Trapped inside my bones, fear, desire, and hope are on fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title lyrics from SoulCatcher by The The  
> (I know, the most ungoogle-able band ever)
> 
> Also just a heads up, these chapters keep getting longer and longer lol so I've decided to break up the last 5 into 6! More content for y'all ;)

A commotion broke out near the Imperial transport. Out into the path of the transport ran two men, one tall and muscled with long hair, the other slimmer and shorter with buzzed hair. They looked peaceful in their protest, but they were immediately tackled and placed under arrest by stormtroopers. Jyn winced as she watched, reminded of the bruises on Cassian’s face that had only just faded. The two men put up quite a fight, the taller one throwing two stormtroopers off his back and racing over to his partner, who had already made quick work of his assailants with only a wooden staff. But more troopers were closing.

“Cassian…” Jyn whispered, but Cassian was not watching the fight on the street. His eyes were on the rooftops, where Cevran and his buddies were sneaking about, surrounding the transport.

“You there!” One of the stormtroopers gestured towards Cassian with his blaster and approached them. “It’s after curfew. Identification and Night Employment Pass, now.” Cassian put his hands up, panic rising.

Blaster fire erupted all around the transport, raining down from the roofs before the stormtroopers had time to react. A shot tore through the trooper approaching Cassian and sent him flying, his limp body crashing into Cassian and knocking him over. More fire whizzed past Jyn’s shoulder, and it dawned on her that she had on her Imperial issue jacket. She dove behind one of the heat lamps.

Cevran leapt from the roof onto the transport, pistol whipping the officer and blasting a hole in the side of the cargo area. One of the troopers that had been tossed aside by the tall, long haired rebel finally pulled himself to his feet and aimed for Cevran. Cassian shoved the body off of him and snatched up the blaster, taking out the trooper before he could pull the trigger. Cevran looked up and saluted his brother. 

Jyn didn’t know quite what to do. She was frozen in place, watching the scene unfold. All of her instincts told her to stay put, that she’d be executed by the Empire for just being here. But _Cassian_ was being shot at by stormtroopers in front of her. 

A wail suddenly caught her attention. “Elya!” Cassian yelled out, pinned down by blaster fire, using the dead trooper as a shield.

Peering from her hiding place, Jyn could see Elya running wildly, tears streaming down her face. _Fuck it,_ Jyn thought, and sprinted from behind the heat lamp. She tackled one of the troopers gunning for Cassian, stole his blaster, and snatched Elya up. An extremely confused trooper turned to her and spent long enough looking at the Imperial emblem on her jacket for Jyn to shoot him in the leg and slide underneath the transport. 

Elya buried her face in the fur lining of Jyn’s jacket, sobbing and trembling. “It’s okay, Elya, I got you.” She whispered, holding Elya tight. 

The blaster fire around them slowed to a stop, and Jyn noticed that from underneath the transport, she could see incapacitated trooper bodies on the ground and standing rebel legs. She dared to peek her head out, and almost bumped into Cassian. He gave her a hand and helped her stand.

Jyn! Are you okay? Is Elya…” Cassian trailed off as Elya let go of Jyn to hug her brother. Cassian squeezed her tight, stroking her hair and whispering to her in Mirialan.

Cevran jumped down from on top of the transport and began raiding the kyber crystals from inside it, mesmerized by the fresh haul from the polar mines. Then his eyes caught Elya, and he froze. Cassian glared at him.

“This… is your fault.” Cassian snarled, and Jyn thought for a moment he was going to hit his brother. But he thought better of it. 

“I’m sorry, Cassi. But look, we’re golden. All the troopers are dead so no one will know who made off with all this kyber.” Cev waved around a particularly sparkly shard of the Empire’s most coveted resource. Cassian remained unphased.

“Let’s go.” Cassian picked up Elya and looked at Jyn. She nodded and followed him.

As they left the scene, Jyn could tell Cassian was still fuming, but he kept quiet. They walked in silence towards the family farm, Elya still clinging to Cassian and sniffling. 

_I just shot a stormtrooper,_ Jyn realized. But as guilty as she felt about the _man_ she shot, there was not a drop of remorse in her about the _act_ of resisting the Empire. It had been a long time coming, in a way. She just hoped no one would find out, and that her parents would be safe… And she was glad Cassian and Elya were safe. 

She reached out and put a hand on Cassian’s shoulder. He turned to look at her, gratitude filling his eyes and his smile. Jyn would do anything to see those eyes not look so weighed down, so exhausted. There were layers and layers of pain there. He had talked about his father with a certain level of detachment, but the detachment was a facade, and she knew that based off of the joy in his eyes when he talked about the twins and when he held Elya in his arms. 

A noise behind her caught her attention and she spun around, the adrenaline from the fight not quite worn off yet. A ways down the street, she could see the first two rebels from earlier, the tall one with long hair and the smaller one with the staff. They leaned against each other as they walked.

“Cassian…” Jyn whispered and nodded her head towards the men. Cassian turned his head just enough to catch a glimpse.

“It’s okay. Those two are Guardians of the Whills. Well, ex-Guardians. Their temple was destroyed when the Empire expanded the mines. Now they just kind of… wander around and make small political protests.” Cassian explained.

Jyn continued to look back at them. They seemed… sad. Jyn found it strange that she could almost feel their sadness from this far away. Their sadness was hollow, not raw or fresh, but still very present, a dull, constant ache. The shorter man made eye contact with her, but his eyes were pale blue and sightless.

“Trade that necklace for a glimpse into your future,” He called out to her. 

Jyn’s hand immediately reached for her chest, where her kyber necklace lay hidden under her shirt. “How did you know I was wearing a necklace?”

“What do you know about kyber crystals?” The man approached her, but his partner hung back.

“My father told me they powered the Jedi’s lightsabers,” Jyn replied, pulling her crystal out and cradling it in her palm. 

“Jyn, we should get off the street.” Cassian had stopped to wait for her, but he was anxious. Curfew had come and gone, and once the robbery was reported, the city would be crawling with troopers.

“I’m Chirrut, and this is Baze. And we are not ex-Guardians. The Force still guides our path, as it always has.” Chirrut smiled proudly, but the sadness was still palpable. Jyn was pulled into an old memory, one of Saw Gerrera in his bunker, telling stories from his youth on Onderon. He told Jyn all about the Jedi, and how even though they were gone, the Force was still here. _The Force did not belong to the Jedi, even if they thought so. The Force belongs to everyone,_ Saw had said. She still wasn’t sure if she knew what he meant.

The man called Baze rolled his eyes as Chirrut explained. “If this is what the Force had in mind for us, I wish it would stop its guiding.” He sighed.

“Jyn.” Cassian called again. 

She nodded to Cassian, and turned to say goodbye to the Guardians. “May the Force be with you.” She bowed her head. Chirrut repeated the phrase, and smiled like he knew a secret.   
Jyn jogged to catch up to Cassian, and they continued on towards the farm. As they reached the cross street they needed to turn on, they were met with a familiar face. An Imperial intelligence droid with orange accents stood in the middle of the street, arms crossed.

“K2!” Elya shouted, leaving Cassian’s arms and running up to the droid. “K2, I’m sorry I tricked you, but you said I wasn’t allowed to leave and I had to talk to Cassian.”

“I will not be playing hide and seek with you ever again.” He tilted his head to look down at Elya. She frowned up at him, hurt. 

“K2, I should sell you for scrap.” Cassian chided. He knew he should probably be mad at Elya too, but after what had happened tonight, he figured she didn’t need a talking to.

“I’m programmed for military intelligence, not babysitting.” K2 retorted.

“It’s really the same thing,” Cassian argued, and K2 could not produce a quip for that. “It was your first day on the job, K. I’ll forgive you just this once. Now let’s get back. Cevran decided to stir up some trouble, and I’m done being caught up in the middle of it.” Cassian turned the corner with a smile of relief, but it was quickly wiped off his face. 

A unit of stormtroopers was busy banging on doors and issuing citations to anyone out past curfew up and down the street. Jyn and Cassian made eye contact, then turned back around slowly, not interested in that mess.

“Halt. Stop right there!” A voice muffled by a helmet called after them, and Jyn flynched. The four of them turned back around to face a trooper with an orange pauldron. The few of Jyn’s brain cells that actually listened in class told her that the pauldron meant he was the unit’s leader. “Where are you taking these prisoners?” The question was directed to K2, who looked as dumbfounded as an expressionless droid could look.

“These are prisoners,” K2 repeated, gesturing to Jyn, Cassian, and Elya.

“Yes, where are you taking them?” The unit leader asked.

“I’m… taking them to imprison them, in prison.” K2 nodded, seeming pleased with himself and his completely erased practical memory after Cassian reprogrammed him. Jyn was trying very hard not to cringe outwardly at every word he said.

Cassian just about died inside, and decided to at least try and salvage the situation. “He’s taking us to—”

K2 panicked and smacked Cassian in the mouth. “Quiet!” He shouted, trying to look brutal and official. “And there’s a fresh one if you mouth off again.” Cassian grabbed his face, covering his mouth and nose. Jyn’s eyes widened, but he wasn’t bleeding so much as trying to cover the laugh he could barely hold in.

The unit leader motioned to a couple of his subordinates, and they hurried over and started trying to put restraints on Cassian and Jyn. Elya ran behind Cassian and hid, wrapping her arms around his leg. K2 just sputtered some very unofficial orders and assertions, trying to regain control over the situation.

“We need to check your diagnostics.” The unit leader looked K2 up and down.

“Diagnostics? I’m capable of running my own diagnostics, thank you very much,” K2 replied, his voice rising. 

“Let them pass in peace.” From behind Jyn, Chirrut appeared, striding into the road. All the troopers turned to face him, weapons drawn. “Let them pass in peace. The Force is with me, and I am with the Force. I fear nothing, for all is as the Force wills it.” He used his staff to feel the cobblestones beneath his feet, and he used the Force to feel all thirteen of the troopers on the street. 

“Stop right there. I said stop right there!” The unit leader commanded, but Chirrut did not stop.

“He’s blind,” One of the other troopers pointed out.

“Is he deaf?” The unit leader asked, cocking his blaster for Chirrut to hear. “I said… stop right there.” Chirrut did not stop, and all hell broke loose.

The unit leader fired at Chirrut’s head, but Chirrut had long since moved out of the way, and the shot whizzed past his shoulder and almost hit another of the troopers. Jyn was done waiting around. She took one look at the trooper holding her wrists and kneed him in the family jewels. He sank to his knees, setting himself up for Jyn’s roundhouse kick to the helmet, knocking him unconscious. 

Cassian grabbed the arm of the trooper apprehending him and twisted it behind his back. The trooper yelled pitifully as Cassian forced him to the ground, placing a foot in the center of his back and cuffing the trooper with his own handcuffs. K2-SO clobbered the unit leader, his metal fists cracking the trooper’s armor. Chirrut was making quick work of the rest of the unit with his staff. He used their encirclement against them, two of the troopers shooting their own men. 

Jyn was a little worried about their chances of making it out of this one when Baze appeared, heavy repeater cannon in hand. Jyn and Cassian ducked, shielding Elya as he tore up the street, knocking any troopers still standing clear off their feet. 

Chirrut was still standing in the center of the mess, looking almost a little disappointed that he didn’t get to beat up as many troopers as he could have. “You almost shot me.” He turned to Baze, planting his staff.

“You’re welcome,” Baze replied, stepping over the cracked pauldron of the unit leader. 

“Thank you Baze,” Jyn stood and smiled at him. He remained almost expressionless, but Jyn could see his eyes soften a little.

“Now we really need to get out of here.” Cassian picked Elya back up and started down the street, but then he stopped and turned to look at Baze and Chirrut. They were about to head down an alley, where they’d probably spend the night, in the freezing cold. He sighed and hoped his mother wouldn’t be too mad. “You two coming?”

Baze and Chirrut looked up at him, and Chirrut smiled. “Thank you, Cassian.”


	9. Qaumajuapik

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title Lyrics from Qaumajuapik by Riit. Go check her out, she's a really cool Inuk artist!! After some research into Riit interviews and rabbit holes into Inuktitut glossaries, I learned Qaumajuapik means something like "you are shining" and that may or may not have a double meaning for this chapter ;)

Chetlian and the twins were fast asleep when they finally arrived at the Andor residence, so Cassian shushed Chirrut and manually turned K2’s volume down, since his blabbering had already gotten them into enough trouble. Elya had fallen asleep in Cassian’s arms on the walk home, but she awoke with a start just as Cassian laid her down on her bed.

“Shh, Yaya, it’s okay. We’re home safe.” Cassian whispered in her ear.

“I want a bedtime story!” Elya demanded.

“Yaya…” Cassian rolled his eyes, but she sat up in bed with her arms crossed, refusing to budge. “Okay, fine, but a short one. How about the one about the queen of Naboo, or the Night of a Thousand Stars?”

“I’ve heard those a million times already!” She complained a little too loud, and Cassian shushed her again. She scrunched up her nose at him, but then an idea dawned on her. “I want Jyn to tell me a story.” 

Jyn had been standing in the doorway, watching Cassian argue with his sister, not expecting to become involved. Cassian looked like he was about to make up an excuse for her, but Jyn suddenly remembered all the stories her father and Saw told her when she was younger. “I can tell you a story if you want, Elya.” Jyn came and sat on the foot of the bed next to Cassian, and Elya smirked. 

“A short one. Momma will kill us both if she comes home and you’re still awake, Yaya.” Cassian warned.

“Yes!” Elya plopped back down on her pillow and pulled the covers up to her chin, eyes locked on Jyn. Suddenly, Jyn felt more pressure than she ever had before an exam, though that wasn’t saying much coming from a student like her.

“Okay, well, once there was a young, um, duchess named Steela.” Jyn smiled to herself, thinking about the first time Saw told her the story of his sister versus the last.

“What did she look like?” Elya asked.

“She was tall, with blue eyes and coily black hair.” Jyn recalled the hologram she had caught Saw looking at one time, with a heaviness in his eyes.

“What did she like to wear?” Elya interrupted.

“Elya, let her tell the story.” Cassian laughed. Elya made a face at him, halfheartedly.

“She always wore a bandana in her hair.” Jyn continued. “The king of her planet, King Dendup, got kidnapped and replaced with a very bad king, King Rash. Rash kicked Steela and her friends out of their city, but they were determined to find the missing king and save everyone from King Rash. Steela and her freedom fighters trained for weeks, then decided to sneak into the city pretending to be hunters with food to sell. Once inside, they took over a hover tank and fought King Rash’s evil guards. But there were too many evil guards, so Steela had to come up with a new plan. She realized she needed the help of her people…” Jyn trailed off, realizing Elya had fallen asleep again. 

“Thank you.” Cassian whispered to Jyn. He stood and brushed Elya’s hair out of her face. “She’ll be wearing a dish towel as a bandana tomorrow, tackling Synji and pretending he’s the hover tank she’s taking over.” Jyn smiled at the thought and followed Cassian out of the room. She felt a little strange, borrowing Saw’s story about the triumph of their resistance movement and leaving out the fact that Steela died before she saw her city restored. But that was the way Saw first told her, and she thought he’d be happy to know his sister was inspiring little girls all over the galaxy. 

Baze and Chirrut were standing awkwardly in the kitchen when Cassian and Jyn returned. Cassian quickly got them settled in Cevran’s room, knowing full well Cevran wouldn’t dare show his face around the house for a few days. Chirrut was immediately drawn to a holodisk Cevran had left out on his desk. 

“Your brother has been in contact with the Rebellion, hasn’t he?” He asked. Cassian let him slide the disk into the player, and they watched as it displayed a scribbly mess.

“It’s encrypted. He hasn’t been able to unscramble it.” Cassian turned off the holoplayer after a while of staring at the static. Looking down at the disk in his hand, Jyn could see pain bubble up in his eyes. She could only guess that he was thinking about his father. She wondered what he had hid or sugar coated in front of her, knowing she was Imperial. 

“He will figure it out.” Chirrut put his hand on Cassian’s shoulder and smiled at him. “I believe it is the will of the Force that all of us met tonight, and that we will eventually win our freedom.” 

“I would appreciate it if the will of the Force would hurry itself up.” Baze chimed in. “Thank you for letting us stay here, Cassian.” He reached out to Chirrut and threaded his arm through his partner’s. Cassian nodded to them, and he and Jyn left the room. 

“Remember when I promised to show you the family farm?” Cassian turned to Jyn, a grin suddenly creeping onto his face.

“Your farm under the ice?” Jyn replied. “How could I forget?”

“Come on.” Cassian held out his hand, and Jyn took it.

The staircase to the farm was a narrow spiral, and at the end was a steel door. When Cassian opened it, Jyn felt a blast of humid air. She thought maybe the farm wouldn’t be as exciting at night, but she was very wrong. There were rows and rows of tall stalks with bulbs at the ends, and lining a path through them were purple trees with bioluminescent flowers, softly illuminating the room. Through the clear ice ceiling, Jyn could see the satellites and stars and moons. 

“What are these glowing things?” She reached out to touch one of the bioluminescent flowers, which seemed to have a thousand petals. 

“You’ve seriously never seen a jogan fruit tree?” Cassian almost laughed.

“These grow jogan fruit?” Jyn asked, but soon spotted an unripe fruit amongst the flowers. “I didn’t know they glowed.”

“They don’t like to waste any light.” Cassian explained, pointing at how the leaves curled around the glowing flowers, catching extra sunlight the flowers had stored from the day before. “I used to fall asleep down here all the time when I was little.” Cassian led her to another area, a vegetable garden surrounded by bales of soft, bluish hay. He plopped down onto one of the bales with his hands behind his head.

Jyn climbed up next to him, impressed at how comfortable the hay was. “I bet you woke up looking like a blue Wookiee, with this hay all over you.”

“I won’t deny that.” Cassian turned to her and smiled, then his mind drifted to something else and his gaze returned to the stars.

“Cassian, I… I want to make sure you know that I’m not going to tell anyone about what happened tonight.” Jyn began, and Cassian’s eyes returned to hers. “I think it’s no secret that I’m not happy living with the Empire. My family, we tried to escape once. But Krennic came and found us. He shot my mother.”

“Bastard…” Cassian hissed. “I’m sorry Jyn. I wish… I wish we could…”

“I’ve thought the same thoughts, but I’m scared he’d find us, and do something worse.” 

“They think the whole galaxy belongs to them.” Cassian sat up, shredding a few strands of blue hay in his hands. “You know, my mother used to work at the Base too. She fell in love with an officer, and he promised he’d leave his wife for her. Then he got transferred to Scarif and my mother had Elya.” 

Jyn wondered how many people across the galaxy had stories just like hers and Cassian’s. How many officers out there had affairs with the same non-humans they claimed to be disgusted by? How many defectors had been captured and even killed by stormtroopers? How many civilians had their faces pressed into cold cobblestone for singing a song? Had everyone gotten complacent, like she had been through her high school years? 

“There are people out there fighting the Empire, but I feel stuck. I can’t leave my mother, the twins, Chetlian, and Elya.” Cassian sighed. “I feel guilty every day.”

“Cassian, you’re keeping your family alive. That’s the most important thing you can do.” His hands were still anxiously picking away at the hay, so Jyn gently laid her hand over Cassian’s. He relaxed and took her hand in his. “Let’s win this dance contest. For them.”

“Jyn, if we win, we could almost buy a ship with the prize money. We could leave here and search for the Rebellion. I love my home, but…” Cassian trailed off, looking out over the farm. He had never even been off-world, besides Fest’s biggest moon. It would be a lot to give up. But staying here and doing nothing would mean giving up even more. 

“If we win, I’ll leave with you. We’ll decrypt Cevran’s message and find the rebellion.” Jyn promised.

“What about your family?” Cassian asked. 

“Krennic won’t punish them if they didn’t know I was defecting.” Jyn knew how valuable her father was to whatever project Krennic was working on. He would’ve just killed them all for leaving the first time if he didn’t think he needed Galen Erso.

They sat in silence together for a while, thinking about what the Rebellion would be like, what farming is like on a planet not covered with ice, and what dance moves they should incorporate in their performance. The flowers of the jogan fruit trees slowly faded, running out of stored light, and soon Jyn and Cassian were left with only the light of the moons. As pretty as the night sky was, Jyn felt her eyes drifting to Cassian. There was already blue straw sticking out of his hair, proving her blue Wookiee hypothesis correct. Laying next to him, she could see the tattoos on his neck clearly, little triangles making up a big diamond.

“Cassian, can I ask you what your tattoos mean?” After she asked, Cassian’s hand drifted up to touch his tattoo, tracing the edges. 

“It means ‘hope.’ My mother did it for me a couple years after my father was taken. He used to always say, ‘rebellions are built on hope,’ so I got it in honor of him.” At the Rec Hub, Cassian always had his shirt buttoned all the way up so the collar covered most of the tattoo and his green skin, but in the comfort of the Black Rose and his own home, he let the tattoo show with pride.

“I think that’s beautiful, and very fitting for you.” Jyn rolled over to face him. 

“What do you mean, fitting?” Cassian turned to face her too, and suddenly their faces were quite close.

“I think you inspire hope. You certainly inspired hope in me.” Jyn stated it plainly, then cringed at her own words. “Sorry, that sounded less cheesy in my head.”

“Jyn…” Cassian shook his head and laughed. Then he got more serious. “You’ve given me hope again too. If it weren’t for you, I’d still be serving drinks and hating my life. But now, I’ve got plans and we’re going to do something with our lives.” 

“We should never be poets.” Jyn giggled. 

“We’d be terrible at it.” Cassian smiled his most wholesome smile, where his nose crinkled a little and his dimples appeared. 

Jyn had had crushes before, sure. But she had never looked at anyone the way she looked at this big grin of Cassian’s, picturing herself flying across the galaxy, fighting with the Rebellion, farming on an isolated ice planet, and growing old with this boy. The thought threatened to scare her half to death, but at the same time, she felt a sense of destiny, like this was the direction she was supposed to take, not because it was the path of least resistance, but because it was the right path.

They fell asleep on the bushel of hay like Cassian used to do as a child, with their faces inches apart and their sights set on the stars.


	10. An end to the tears and the in-between years and the troubles I've seen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title lyrics from Clean by Depeche Mode, my bois <3  
> I was about to apologize here because the end of this chapter gets a lil plotty but then I was like... if you didn't like plot you wouldn't be here haha

“Two days until the contest and I still feel like I look like an Eopie when I try to do that last step.” Jyn sighed, practicing the footwork for a sweeping sashay as Cassian sat on the floor and watched her.

“I’ve never seen an Eopie but I’m pretty sure you look nothing like one. Just make sure you carry the motion from your knee up through your hips.” Cassian smiled. “It looks a lot better than last week.”

“Trust me, I look like an Eopie. They walk exactly like this.” Jyn repeated the step, but walked pigeon toed and exaggerated the hip movement.

Cassian laughed and leaned back onto the floor of the Black Rose. If only they were trying to win an animal impersonation contest. Cassian stood up and held his hand out to Jyn. “Come on, don’t be so hard on yourself. Relax.”

Jyn blew her bangs out of her eyelashes and took his hand. “Easy for you to say.” They practiced the sweeping sashay together, first just the footwork, then adding in their hands, holding each other for two steps, then breaking their front hands apart for two. Cassian counted the beats under his breath, keeping them in sync. They ended with a flourish after a few eight counts.

“Look at you, moving your hips in a circle and everything.” Cassian beamed. “It’s not like dancing with my mother’s ironing board anymore.”

“Your frame’s not too bad yourself,” Jyn replied, tugging on his shirt collar playfully.

“What do you think about doing a lift when the song picks up again?” Cassian asked, pulling away from her and dropping into a more athletic stance. “Come on, gravity is lighter on the moon. I can pick you up and throw you around like it’s nothing.”

“Cassian, they have artificial gravity on the moon base. It’ll be Coruscant Standard.”

“How boring.” Cassian smirked. “We can do something simple then. C’mere.” He gestured with his hand, but Jyn bit her lip. 

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d let anyone pick her up. Of course, her parents had picked her up as a child and she had engaged in the occasional game of chicken in the pool with Bodhi and the flyboys, but that was Bodhi, whom she had known her entire life, and if she fell, it was into the water. And chicken came with the incentive of winning against Phelos. 

Cassian noticed her hesitation. “You know what? We can do something else. Why don’t we practice the beginning again.”

But Jyn had gotten herself this far. She vividly remembered only a week ago when they were dancing at the Black Rose and she had to leave the club at the touch of Cassian’s hand on her hip. Since then, they had spent hours every day together working on their routine, and getting distracted easily, talking about anything and everything. She trusted him, but that didn’t make her fear go away instantly. She had to remind herself that this is the Cassian who was there for her after the whole incident with Krennic, the Cassian who took in Baze and Chirrut no questions asked, the Cassian who told Elya bedtime stories every night. 

“No, I want to try a lift.” Jyn looked up at him, determined.

“Are you sure?”

“I trust you.” Jyn stepped closer to him and put her arms up in frame. 

“Okay, then grab your coat.” Cassian led her outside with their jackets. In the empty lot behind the club, a thick layer of fresh snow had fallen the night before, and the staff hadn’t gotten around to shoveling yet. They trudged through it, Cassian offering a steadying hand for Jyn to hold. 

They stopped in the middle of the lot, facing each other. Cassian guided Jyn’s hands up around his neck, then wrapped his arms around her waist. Their breaths fogged in the crisp air. Cassian couldn’t help but freeze for a moment, with their faces so close and Jyn’s breath warming his cheeks.

“Ready?” He whispered, rolling his shoulders and preparing himself.

Jyn nodded, and he lifted her off the ground, swinging her in gentle circles. Her feet grazed the surface of the snow, drawing swirls around them. Jyn started off looking at the ground beneath them, but then she raised her eyes to meet Cassian, and as they spun faster, laughter escaped her.

But the snow was slick and they were a little off balance, and on the next rotation, they fell into the snow. Cassian twisted to land on his back so Jyn wouldn’t go face first into the cold. Jyn landed on his chest, the air leaving his lungs, but it was quickly replaced as Cassian gasped and laughed. 

“So that’s why you wanted to try the lift outside.” Jyn teased. Her bangs had come loose from her bun and brushed Cassian’s cheeks.

“Safety first.” He shrugged. 

Jyn giggled and picked herself up, dusting the snow off her pants. Cassian stood up too, swatting the snow off his jacket collar before it could fall down the back of his neck.

Jyn started to look at him weird, frowning a little as he attempted to wipe more snow from his clothes. “It’s all in your hair.” 

“Oh…” Cassian shook his head to try to loosen the snow, but by the look on Jyn’s face, it didn’t work.

“Here, may I?” She reached out towards the right side of Cassian’s face, and he nodded. Gently, she pulled a chunk of snow out of Cassian’s hair where the impact had packed it together and gotten it all tangled in the strands. She pursed her lips as she pulled at one more piece of snow, careful not to tug too hard on his hair. Once it was all out, she smiled and ruffled his hair a little.

“Thanks,” Cassian breathed. 

His heart swelled a little, knowing how hard just holding hands on the dance floor had been for her in the beginning, and he didn’t blame her, after Krennic. He wanted so badly for her to trust him, but he knew that would take time. He would give her all the time she needed, but this small gesture of touching his hair at this point… It just made him happy to see her not living in fear. And it gave him a little hope that maybe one day she could feel the same way he felt about her…

“Shall we try it again?” Jyn asked, interrupting Cassian’s thoughts.

“Yeah, I think it’ll go really well in our routine.” He opened his arms to her again.

“I’m just glad you agreed to let us have a set routine.” Jyn smirked as she wrapped her arms around Cassian’s neck and braced herself to be lifted off her feet.

“You know I was just messing with you, right?”

“You know _I’m_ just messing with _you_ right now, right?” 

Cassian rolled his eyes at her and swept her off her feet.

* * * * *

After a morning of dancing with Cassian and a day of boring classes, Jyn decided to stop by Bodhi’s. On the way, she passed by Phelos and some flyboys in the hall, and she and Phelos exchanged their usual greeting of lighthearted profane hand gestures.

“Have you seen Bodhi?” She asked the group.

Phelos pointed at the bunk room he shared with Bodhi. “He’s been holed up in there since our flight sim this afternoon.” 

Jyn frowned, wondering what had kept Bodhi from answering her signals for the last few hours. She banged on the door, but got no response. “You’re sure he’s in there?” She turned back to Phelos.

Phelos just shrugged and scanned his ID card to let Jyn in the room. The door slid open, and Jyn finally saw Bodhi, hunched over his holopad at his desk with headphones on and eyes locked to the screen. Jyn nodded a thank you to Phelos, flicked him off one more time, and closed the door behind her as she entered the room.

Oblivious and completely absorbed by whatever he was doing, Bodhi didn’t notice Jyn until she was about a foot away from him, and then he slammed his holopad closed and jumped back like a fyrnock that had been burned by sunlight.

“Kriff, you scared me to death, Jyn.” Bodhi pulled off his headphones and gingerly reopened his holopad.

“Whatever you were watching must’ve been that good, huh.” Jyn joked.

“I wasn’t watching anyth— No! Jyn, I… I got a message.” The last word was barely audible as Bodhi whispered, looking around the room for bugging devices. He flipped the screen of his holopad around for Jyn to see, and she immediately recognized the semi-distorted faces of Senators Bail Organa and Mon Mothma. Most Imperial cadets knew them as the most outspoken Senators for reform, fighting to reduce the power of the Emperor and cut military spending. Many suspected their ties to the Rebel Alliance, but nothing had been proven. 

“Oh…” Jyn also whispered, then nodded towards the door. Bodhi picked up his holopad and they left, heading off the base and out onto the freezing streets of Anavah. Jyn quickly led Bodhi to the abandoned lot behind the Black Rose, where there were still marks in the snow from practice with Cassian earlier.

Fear built up in Jyn’s throat. Bodhi loved to joke about having a breakdown and joining the Rebellion, and she knew how close Cassian was to joining up, but she never imagined that Bodhi had gotten his hands on an actual deciphered rebel holo!

“Bodhi, where did you get this?” Jyn took the holopad from him and studied the faces of the Senators. She had always admired them for having the guts to stand up for what they believed in. And now, she knew just how far they were willing to go for justice.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Out with it!” She gave him a light punch on the shoulder, eager to hear the story.

“Well, I was in the Rec Hub last night, minding my own business, and Krennic comes up to me, out of the blue. And he’s absolutely shit-faced, like I’ve never seen. I could smell him from a parsec away.” 

“Fucking slob. He acts like a Hutt.” Jyn spat.

“Oh, it gets worse. He puts his hand on my shoulder and begs me to take him to some club on the moon to meet a girl, because he’s too hammered to pilot himself. And I’m not about to say no to the guy, so I take him to the moon in, get this, his _personal shuttle.”_

“Aw, Bodhi, you flew a Delta-class shuttle all by yourself? I’m proud of you!” Jyn wrapped her arm around his shoulder and squeezed his cheek teasingly. He was always so nervous about flying anything bigger than a TIE.

“I did, and I landed it twice!” Bodhi threw her off and laughed, then continued with his story. “So while we’re on our way there, he starts digging through a pile of holodisks, trying to show me a holo of the _‘smoking Twi’lek exotic dancer’_ he said he was going to meet. But he put the wrong disk in the holoplayer, and these two pop up!” Bodhi pointed to the Senators, looking stately and determined on the screen.

_“You_ stole one of _Krennic’s_ intelligence holos while he was hooking up with a Twi’lek stripper?” Jyn squinted at him. “Who are you and what have you done with the Bodhi I knew?”

“I didn’t steal it. I’m not trying to get thrown out of the Academy just yet. I made a copy.” Bodhi shrugged.

“That’s the Bodhi I know.” Jyn smiled. He may have been a nervous wreck at times, but his nerves did happen to make smart decisions. “Now I’ve got to see this thing.” Jyn pressed play, and held her breath.

_This is a message to any Festians who have been living with an oppressive power encroaching on every aspect of their lives,_ Senator Mothma began, _and to any who may be losing hope._

_Do not give up hope._ Senator Organa continued, putting his hand on Senator Mothma’s shoulder. _As surely as your suns rise in the East and as surely as your largest moon orbits your planet every month, know that there is hope for you and your people._

Senator Mothma joined in again. _We are determined to guide the galaxy in a new direction, but we cannot do it alone. We need the strength of Fest and a thousand other star systems with us._

_May the Force be with you,_ The two Senators spoke in unison and bowed, and then the holo ended. 

Jyn turned off the holoplayer. “What the hell was that?” She turned to Bodhi, feeling quite disappointed. “That said nothing about the Rebellion, how to get in touch with them, nothing!” She handed the holoplayer back to Bodhi and crossed her arms. 

“That’s why I’ve been watching it over and over. They knew the Empire would get its hands on the message. Krennic’s team had already decrypted it entirely. So there has to be something in here that gives a clue that only Festians would understand, not offworlders like us.”

“Of course…” Jyn whispered, suddenly analyzing all the interesting word choices the Senators had used. Words that meant nothing, to her. “Come on.” She took Bodhi’s hand and started back down the street.

“Uh, where are we going?” Bodhi asked, stepping over a snowbank that Jyn had plowed right through.

“We’re going to Cassian’s.”


	11. The freckles in our eyes are mirror images and when we kiss they’re perfectly aligned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title Lyrics from Such Great Heights by The Postal Service B)  
> Also I'm so sorry y'all, I've been neglecting this fic because I'm doing inktober, but I promise, she'll be done soon!

_We need the strength of Fest and a thousand other star systems with us. May the Force be with you._ The Senators finished their message, and Jyn could’ve sworn there were tears welling in Cassian’s eyes.

Cassian, Jyn, and Bodhi were sitting underneath the jogun fruit trees in the underground farm, watching the holo. “Cevran’s been trying to decrypt this for weeks.” Cassian shook his head. “I can’t believe the Empire’s already got it all figured out. Anyone who tries to meet up is gonna get shot.”

“But I don’t think the Empire knows when or where the contact is supposed to happen. I mean, this message makes no sense to me. It kind of sounds like Empirical propaganda.” Bodhi gestured vaguely at the frozen faces of the Senators on his screen. 

“Of course!” Cassian jumped up. Imps wouldn’t know about the Night of a Thousand Stars. It’s a local legend. When I was a kid, there was this crazy meteor storm. The sky was lit up as little bits of debris burned up in the atmosphere, and a bunch of meteors hit Big Moon. People used to say that the angels of Iego got jealous of our moons and came to knock them out of the sky. The colony up there was almost destroyed, and a lot of people took it as a message to stop the lunar expansion. Nothing new was constructed up there until the Empire came.”

“That’s got to be it.” Jyn stood with him. “The craters on the moon have to be the meeting place.”

“But when?” Bodhi asked, rewinding the holo and watching it over.

“You want to know why Festians hate Empire Day more than most?” Cassian replied. “We’re a superstitious people, and the anniversary of the Night of a Thousand Stars always falls on Empire Day.”

“Cassian, the contest is on Empire Day. And it’s in two days.” Jyn looked at him. They had planned to leave for the Rebellion at some point, but they were hoping to have at least some credits to their name from placing in the contest when they did so. And she knew Cassian wouldn’t leave without his family. But for his mother and the kids to pack up and leave in two days? 

“The message mentioned the rising of the suns, so they must be coming around sunrise. The contest should be over by then.” Cassian listened as Bodhi replayed the message one more time, checking it over. 

Bodhi suddenly gasped, looking at the time. “Kriff, I have a practice simulation in half an hour. I’ve got to run.” He took the disk out of his player and handed it to Cassian, nodding to him. “Thank you for all your help.”

“No, thank you, Bodhi.” Cassian smiled at him, the tears threatening to fill his eyes again. As Bodhi left, Cassian looked back at Jyn. “Jyn, are you sure you want to do this? The Empire will kill us both if we’re caught. You have a future here and—”

“Cassian, I’m going to die a slow death if I stay.” Jyn said, almost jokingly. She reached out for his hand, and he slipped his fingers into hers. Her hands were ice cold, and he rubbed his thumb over them, trying to warm them up. Though her fingers were still pretty cold, she felt a different warmth radiate from her fingertips, up her arm, and through her chest. 

She no longer thought back to Krennic’s hands on her when Cassian touched her, because she knew he could never hurt her. He always asked first, always let her choose what she was comfortable doing when they were dancing, always thought of others first. She had pretended like it was nothing when they fell in the snow, all tangled in each other’s arms, but inside, her heart had just about stopped. 

This feeling of safety, of home, was new to her, and she never wanted it to stop. “If you’re going, I’m going with you.”

“Jyn…” Cassian looked away and down at his feet, letting his hair fall into his eyes. “Are you completely sure?”

“Cassian, When I first started school, I used to dream about being an officer. I wanted to be one of the good officers, protecting people, stopping criminals, not like Krennic or Tarkin. I thought I could be a new breed of officer.” For years, she had been trained, prepared to lead troops into battle. Thinking back on their night full of blaster fire, there was fear in her heart, but also a kind of calm, a certainty. Jyn was a fighter, born and raised, but she was never sure what was worth fighting for. 

“I don’t want you to give up your dreams for me.” Cassian whispered.

“I have new dreams now.” Jyn stopped him before he could try to push her away. Many of the things Saw Gerrera and her father had told her as a child seemed like false hope, utopian pipe dreams. She wasn’t sure if she could believe in them until she got to know Cassian and his family, until she broke out of the Imperial bubble, until she saw Cassian’s face pinned against the cold cobblestone. “I can’t fix the Empire by being a good little officer. Especially if you are on the other side.” She tilted her head and leaned towards him, catching his downcast eyes.

He was fighting a smile, she could tell. But he lost his battle as soon as their eyes met. “Then let’s win this thing,” he finally spoke. He was smiling that same, crinkle-nosed, dimpled smile that she fell in love with the other night, under this very jogun fruit tree. It had never occurred to Jyn that she was already in love with Cassian, but looking at him now, she felt like she had been in love with him all her life. Some part of her knew he was in love with her too, but he was too considerate, too shy to tell her first. 

“Cassian, do you want to kiss me?” Jyn asked, and Cassian blushed and looked away. Jyn got just a little pleasure out of watching him squirm.

When he regained his composure, he replied, “Only if you want to kiss me.”

She nodded, and Cassian let go of her now room temperature fingers, sliding his hands up her arms, coming to rest them on the sides of her face, his thumb twirling a stubborn strand of hair that never liked to stay tied up. They leaned slowly towards each other, Jyn wrapping her arms around his waist, pulling him close, feeling warmer than she had felt in all her time on Fest. 

Their lips finally met, and Jyn sank into him, leaned into the comfort and the warmth. She could feel Cassian’s smile threatening at the corners of his mouth as he kissed her, and it made her chest ache even harder for him. They pulled apart to breathe, and a giggle bubbled up in Jyn’s throat. Cassian was laughing too, and Jyn was just grateful to be staring into those big brown eyes, grateful for the crinkles of Cassian’s nose, grateful that, despite everything, the universe somehow allowed them to find each other.

As they kissed again, Jyn realized they were rocking back and forth, _pause, back, three, four, pause, forward, three four,_ dancing slowly underneath the emerging lights of the jogun fruit blossoms.

* * * * *

“Momma, where’s Cevie?” Cassian peeked his head out of his bedroom door and called down the hall to the kitchen.

“You think I know where that boy goes off to?” She yelled back to him, over the sound of Elya and Chetlian fighting battle droids in a game of make believe. “What do you need him for anyway?”

“I need his suit for tonight.” Cassian opened the door all the way and walked into the kitchen. Elya stopped her game and laughed at the sight of him. He had tried to put on the navy blue suit he wore years ago for somebody’s wedding, but in doing so, he ripped the right sleeve clean off at the shoulder. His white undershirt puffed out of the burst seam like the stuffing from a plush toy.

“Yes, I don’t think you can go out like that to a big shot Imperial party.” His mother shook her head. “I doubt Cevie’s will fit you either. Here, let me see that.” She squinted at the frayed stitching, feeling the material of the suit. 

“Momma, I don’t think this one’s worth saving.” Cassian raised his arms, exasperated. 

“Nonsense! I think I know just what to do.” She slid the jacket off and hurried towards the ironing board. Underneath it sat a dusty embroidery machine Cassian had never seen her use. She lugged the old thing over to the dining room table, and laid the jacket down, sizing it up. “You know, they used to slash and puff clothes like this on purpose a hundred years ago on Mirial. My grandmother showed me her technique when I was a little girl.”

Cassian followed her to the table and watched her thread the machine with a silver spool. “Momma, this is an Imperial party, and—” 

She cut him off with the sound of ripping seams, tearing off the other arm. “Just because you dance for them doesn’t mean you have to look like them.” She reached up towards her son and put a hand on the tattoo on his neck, and he placed his hand over hers. “Besides, those stuffy Imperial officers know nothing about fashion.” She chuckled and returned to her work.

Cassian shook his head and admitted defeat. “I just hope it matches what Jyn is wearing.”

“It will.” She winked at him, and Cassian wasn’t quite sure what she meant by that.

At that exact moment, her package was arriving at Jyn’s. K2 rang the doorbell, and Jyn beat her parents to the door, recognizing on the security holo a scratch the reprogrammed droid had received from their scuffle with stormtroopers. 

“K2, is that you?” Jyn opened the door just a crack and whispered. 

“Yes. Mrs. Andor sent this for you.” He held out a brown wrapped package, tied with a silver string.

“What is it?” She asked. K2 managed to give an even blanker stare than his normal droid features held.

“I didn’t ask,” He replied, and she took the package, thanked him, and returned to her room to open it. 

As she pulled the end of the silver string, the brown wrapping unfolded and revealed a bundle of white and silver fabric, neatly rolled, but voluminous, expanding when the string no longer compacted it. On top was a handwritten note on a small scrap of paper.

The note read, _My grandmother wore this when she served as an aid to the Mirialan Senator in the Galactic Republic. I wore it on my wedding day. Elya just tried it on when I took it out and fell in love, so I hope you will wear it tonight, and one day lend it to her too._ It was signed _Lita Andor,_ with a delicate flourish.

Jyn’s heart ached to know that Cassian’s mother would let her wear something that had been in their family for generations. She carefully held it up, taking in the intricate embroidery along the Queen Anne’s neckline of the almost suit jacket shaped bustier. And underneath the flounced layers of skirt were tapered pant legs, and Jyn breathed a little sigh of relief. She wouldn’t feel herself if there weren’t pants, and she couldn’t quite believe that Mrs. Andor would have known. It was moments like these that made her believe what Chirrut had said about the Force having a will.

“Stardust, that’s beautiful.” Galen had appeared in her doorway as Jyn marvelled over the piece and he startled her when he spoke. 

“Papa, you scared me,” She breathed, pulling the dress to her chest.

“No one else will be wearing anything like it at the Lunar Palace tonight.” He smiled. “But that makes it even better.”

“Wait, you’re coming tonight?” She fiddled with the fabric nervously.

“Of course. Did you think Krennic invited only you?” His joke struck a little bit of fear in Jyn’s heart at the thought. After all these hours of practice, she had almost forgotten that the competition was part of the Empire Day celebration, and that everyone and their mother was going to be there.

“Papa, I have something to tell you.” She looked at him sheepishly, and he raised an eyebrow. “I entered the dance competition tonight.”

“You did? Jyn, I’m so happy to hear you’re getting back into dancing. You loved it so much when you were a little girl.” His smile was fond and nostalgic. 

Jyn never realized he cared about dancing. He was always such a driven, business minded man, and dancing always seemed frivolous to Jyn. “I would’ve thought you liked that I switched to martial arts.”

“I was glad you took martial arts, because in this world, you need to know how to defend yourself. But Jyn, I’m your father, and I just want to see you happy. And if dancing makes you happy, then I am happy.” Tears welled up in his eyes, and Jyn laid the dress down so she could hug him. She couldn’t bear to tell him that she was planning on leaving, not yet. And part of her refused to let him stay behind. He had left once before, and maybe she could get him to leave with her again.


	12. Lunar surface on a Saturday night, dressed up in silver and white

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title lyrics from Four Out of Five by Arctic Monkeys!  
> Also yes the lyrics are literal af but this song inspired soooo much of this fic so it's only fair. I've been saving this lyric specifically for this chapter <3

The Lunar Palace was an impressive, white structure, built on the edge of a crater as if overlooking a beautiful lake. Instead, looking out the window, one could see a gray-blue expanse of sand, dust bunnies, and singed boulders. Unlike most Imperial architecture, it was smooth, made entirely of curves and spirals, with balconies reaching out over the edge of the crater, a demonstration of engineering mastery.

Fest C-07, as the Empire had labelled, or Big Moon to the locals, had a breathable atmosphere, but it was just as chilly as its mother planet. Jyn had on her warmest coat and wool gloves, but the cold still penetrated deep into her bones. She and her parents arrived early, but Cassian had arrived even earlier. 

Cassian had been hiding in the shadow of the grand staircase, not wishing to be noticed by any Imperial who might suspect that he didn’t quite belong. But when he saw Jyn enter and hand her coat to the doorman droid, he emerged from his hiding place, breathless. 

Jyn’s nose was rosy from the cold, and her hair was pinned in an updo, but of course her bangs defied instruction and fell around her eyes. She smiled when she saw him standing at the bottom of the staircase with a bouquet of gently glowing jogun fruit blossoms. It was almost as if she floated down the stairs, the weightless layers of white chiffon swirling around her legs. Now Cassian knew why his mother hinted that his suit would match Jyn’s piece. 

“Jyn…” He whispered, reaching out a hand. “My grandmother’s jumpsuit.” Tears welled in his eyes. When she took his hand, he was momentarily distracted. “Your hands are always so cold.” Cassian laughed, rubbing his thumb over her trembling fingers.

“Your mother sent this to me. I hope it’s okay that I wore it.” She swayed her hips a little to let the chiffon flutter. 

“Jyn, you look beautiful.” Cassian brought her freezing hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. 

Jyn blushed and looked away. She wasn’t used to this, any of it. She wasn’t used to someone having the power to make her blush like that, wasn’t used to expressing any femininity, wasn’t used to feeling confident in that femininity, wasn’t used to being in love with someone so kind, so wonderful.

“Thank you,” She replied when she was finally able to look at him. “I like your sleeves.” She tugged playfully on the puff of Cassian’s undershirt through the slashes in his suit jacket. 

“It was my mother’s idea. An old Mirialan tradition.” He smiled proudly.

Galen and Lyra finally caught up with their daughter, and Jyn suddenly remembered that this was an Imperial party. There were definitely morosely dressed officers and their gossiping wives staring at them with pursed lips. But tomorrow, they would be gone, and the opinion of these people would be meaningless.

“Papa, Mama, this is Cassian.” Jyn thought about introducing him as her dancing partner, or perhaps the love of her life, but she didn’t know how to explain everything to her parents right now. 

“Nice to meet you.” Cassian shook her father’s hand and bowed to her mother. “These are for you, from my family’s garden.” He extended the bouquet of jogun fruit blossoms to Lyra. She took them and thanked him, studying the strange, bioluminescent petals. 

Their little introduction was interrupted by an announcement calling all dancers to come get their numbers. Jyn hugged her mother and father goodbye. Galen gave her a look, and she knew she’d have to explain all of this to him at some point. 

In the back room where the dancers were convening, Jyn and Cassian were greeted by a group of bristling Imperials and off-worlder professionals. There was a Zygerrian couple stretching, dressed in lavish gold and teal, both of them easily lifting their legs up practically behind their heads. Jyn was shocked to see Zygerrians rearing their ugly heads in a place like the Lunar Palace, and she assumed they would only be allowed in Imperial circles if the Imps were doing business with the slavers. Next to the Zygerrians was an older Imperial couple in a stiff, standard ballroom hold, arguing in hushed voices, but not quiet enough to hide their creative differences. Past them was a dolled up couple that could be no older than pre-teens, but acting just as professional as everyone else in the room.

The room smelled of hairspray and powder, a plume of it emanating from the mirrors in the corner, where women were touching up their contour and men were creating a helmet out of hair gel. It was an intimidating sight to a freestyle Mirialan dancer and a girl who took ballet from ages 4 to 9 before switching to martial arts.

“Well,” Cassian exhaled.

Jyn squeezed his hand, and they turned to each other, blocking out the noise of the other competitors. “We’re going to win. For your mother and Elya and the boys.”

“Let’s do it.”

* * * * *

The dancing couples entered the ballroom as announced, parading in a wide loop around the dancefloor, which was surrounded by the dinner tables of the guests. As Jyn and Cassian were announced and began their circuit, Jyn spotted her parents sitting at a table with Bodhi. She gave a little wave to them, and Bodhi gave her a thumbs up. Phelos and the flyboys were standing in a group behind the table, and Phelos almost choked on his drink when he saw Jyn. She struggled to hold in her laugh. 

But the smile was wiped off her face when, on the other side of the ballroom, Jyn made eye contact with none other than Director Orson Krennic. Krennic and Tarkin sat next to each other, and she could see Krennic lean over to whisper something to Tarkin as they passed. She tensed instantly, tightening her grip on Cassian’s hand. Cassian’s eyes found Krennic immediately, and he rubbed a thumb over the back of her hand, helping her relax again. Jyn refused to let Krennic know that his presence increased her performance anxiety, so she gave him the most venomous smile she could muster.

A second later, they rounded the corner, and Jyn and Cassian continued on their merry way around the ballroom. They were assigned number 18, part of the second heat. The first ten couples took the floor as Jyn and Cassian stood and watched. Before the song started, the couples spaced themselves out, circling each other like Karkarodons around their prey.

The music began, and the floor came alive with writhing, dancing bodies. Each couple had brought their own style to the table, some gliding into standard holds for the foxtrot, and others, like the Zygerrians, were a little more risqué, the male ripping off a tearaway portion of his partner’s skirt to reveal a shorter one underneath. 

It was mesmerizing to watch all the couples dancing at once. Jyn felt a wave of jealousy wash over her as the Zygerrian woman slid into the splits and the older Imperial couple foxtrotted a hexagon around them. But the jealousy passed when Jyn looked back at Cassian and remembered why she was here. There was nothing the other couples had that she wanted.

The song faded out, and the audience stood in applause. It hit Jyn that now she had to go out there. Before they were called, Cassian pulled her into a tight hug, wrapping an arm around her waist and cradling her head with the other. She sunk into him, willing herself to absorb all the warmth and security and sanctuary she felt in that moment in his arms.

The announcer called number 18 and they quickly pulled apart and scurried out onto the dance floor. They found a space in the corner and settled into their opening poses, facing away from each other with their right hands outstretched behind them. The music kicked in and Jyn whirled around to face her partner, and the moment she locked eyes with him, she forgot all her nerves and remembered that she loved dancing with Cassian. Loved it more than anything.

Cassian took his sweet time meandering towards her, then took her hand and they whirled around each other, Jyn’s skirt unfurling around them. After two twirls, they froze. Jyn broke hold and leaned back, extending her arm towards Bodhi and giving him a wink. Cassian reeled her back in and they began their sweep across the dance floor. In the back of her mind, Jyn wondered if she still looked like an Eopie, but in her heart, she certainly didn’t feel like one. 

Mirialan dancing was like telling a story, a flirtatious, vivacious story. As they traversed the floor, Jyn placed her hand on Cassian’s chest before turning away, and she smiled and squinted at him teasingly. When they first started practicing, they had to remind each other to keep a smile on their faces for the judges, but at this point, the smile was natural. They weren’t just telling a flirtatious story for the judges to interpret. They were living it.

After dodging another couple on their sweep, Cassian let Jyn get ahead of him, then strolled over behind her. He took her hand in his and guided it in a circle around their heads, then spun her out. They paused, their backs to each other again, catching their breath for only a moment. Cassian pivoted and did a little jive kick, pointing at Jyn. She swung her hips in a perfect circle, gathering up her dress so she could mirror Cassian’s jive step. She pointed right back at him, and they hopped back into each other’s arms. 

They locked eyes and Jyn felt deja vu, back to that night they had practiced at the Black Rose during business hours, when they had stomped like they were doing a pasodoble and Cassian had dipped Jyn practically to the floor. Perhaps back then, Jyn had an inkling she was falling head over heels, but hindsight sure was twenty-twenty. In this routine, Cassian only had time to dip her a little instead of to the floor, and then they were off again, spinning around each other, tangling up their arms, then spinning the other way to untangle them.

The music broke out into the chorus, and Jyn realized it was almost time for them to do the lift. But she was having too much fun to let the nerves in now. She leaned into a backbend as Cassian’s kick flew over, inches from her face, just close enough to make things interesting. She spun some classic ballet chaines away from him, and braced herself for the lift. Cassian nodded to her, and she took off running.

Cassian caught her and used her momentum to spin them around, Jyn’s arms around his neck and their noses just touching. Where Jyn’s feet had dragged in the deep snow before, they swung a foot off the ground. She knew it would hurt to fall on the hard dancefloor, but Jyn couldn’t help imagining them falling in a big heap together again. The chorus faded out and Cassian set her gently back on her feet. 

They did a few basic salsa steps with their bodies pressed close together, Cassian trailing his hand down Jyn’s arm. Jyn’s eyes drifted for a moment towards the judges’ panel. Their faces were too hard to read, but next to them, Krennic’s expression was far more telling, his mouth parted and brow furrowed. They made eye contact for a millisecond, and then Jyn looked right back at Cassian, who smiled his little crinkly eyed smile. The smile she loved. Jyn kissed him softly, decidedly over the disgust of the Imperial officers present. The song drew to a close and Cassian dipped her for their final pose.

Jyn could barely believe it was over. Two weeks of the most intense training of her life condensed into ninety neat seconds. She looked up at Cassian, watched his chest rise and fall as he breathed heavily, watched him smile and wave for the crowd. He lifted her back up into his arms and they waved to the crowd together, bowing quickly before being ushered into a line with the other couples. 

The announcer made some filler remarks as the judges deliberated, and the nerves returned to Jyn all over again. As much as she had the time of her life out there, they needed this. 

“You were amazing.” Cassian whispered in her ear, tuning out the clamor of the crowd and the echoing of the announcer. She squeezed his hand.

“You weren’t so bad yourself,” Jyn teased. Cassian laughed and wrapped an arm over her shoulder, pulling her close. She laid her head in the crook of his neck and held his hand close to her chest, just over the kyber crystal she always wore.

“We have our finalists!” The announcer boomed. “They are…” He dragged on for suspense, and Jyn shut her eyes, clutching Cassian’s hand and the kyber crystal. If Baze and Chrirrut were right and the Force did have a will, Jyn hoped it was feeling kind today. “Couple number 4, couple number 9, and couple number 18!”


	13. Hope alone won't remove the stains

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title lyrics from Shame by Depeche Mode :)

Cassian scooped Jyn up and spun her around like their lift all over again, his eyes glassy with happy tears. He set her down and slid his hands up to cup her cheeks, and she placed her hands over his.

“We made the finals,” Cassian breathed.

“Course we did.” Jyn leaned in to kiss him, just gently brushing her lips against his, smiling too hard to do much else. 

They were soon ushered off the floor and back to the dressing room, where the professional finalists hurried to change into different outfits and reapply their makeup. Jyn could only melt into Cassian’s arms. 

“You did the lift perfectly,” He whispered in her ear.

“You were the one doing all the lifting,” She giggled, and a laugh rose in his chest too. With her ear pressed to his chest, she could hear his racing heartbeat and feel the laughter.

“Thank you, Jyn.” Cassian planted a kiss on the top of her head, and then she pulled away just enough to look him in the eyes.

“For what?”

“For needling me until I entered this contest. I don’t know where I’d be if I wasn’t here right now.” He shrugged his shoulders.

“Probably chasing Elya around after she duped K2 again.” Jyn shook her head, thinking back fondly to the first time she met the little firecracker, and how Elya had almost ran her over in her sled. 

“I wish she could’ve seen us tonight. I wish she could’ve seen you in this.” Cassian played with the chiffon layer of her sleeve. 

“Well, then we should have an encore performance for her later.” The thought struck Jyn in an unusual way. She could really see herself spending the rest of her life with Cassian, fighting with the Rebellion by day, and telling Elya bedtime stories together at night. Elya would beg them to teach her the dance routine, and Cassian would make some joke about how Jyn danced like a droid when she first started. 

Maybe it was selfish, but she maybe wanted to run away and join the rebellion more for him than for the cause. But then again, the Empire was the force that would keep them apart, the system that would deny him his rights and freedoms while Krennic and the other directors could sit back in the artificial sun of the Rec Hub and brainwash their children into becoming mindless killers and torturers. 

“Thank you too, Cassian.” Jyn spoke again. “I really don’t know where I’d be if I hadn’t met you.” Cassian smiled and pulled her into another hug, gently cupping the back of her head with his hand.

“Couple 18, you are up.” A woman scribbling things on a holopad called on them and interrupted their embrace. She nodded towards the door, and Jyn and Cassian followed her back to the floor.

This time, they would be the only couple on the floor. There was no one to get in their way, no one to steal the spotlight, but also no one to hide behind. The floor seemed impossibly large and the lights seemed to put a weight on Jyn’s shoulders. 

But once they made their way to the center of the floor, Cassian squeezed her hand, and she forgot everything again. The announcer boomed their number, and the music began.

Their routine was mostly the same, but they had planned a few surprises for the reprise. Again, they began by pulling apart, stepping away from each other with arms stretching back into the space between. But this time, Jyn pivoted on her toes and took off running towards Cassian. He braced himself, and she lept, his hands catching her hips and lifting her up over his head. She hovered above the crowd, her arms outstretched behind her, feeling like a bird of prey, looking down on all of the Empire’s finest. 

Cassian set her down gently, pulling her close to him then letting her slide down to the floor. She let her hands come to rest on Cassian’s cheeks and they paused for one dramatic count like that, eyes locked breaths held, smiles taking over their whole faces.

And then they were off again, swinging and swirling, sweeping across the floor like they had been doing it all their lives. When they got to their little jive kicks, an almost dancerly banter, Jyn turned back to look at Cassian behind her. Just moments before, he was beaming, but now, the color had left his face. He was a half count late on his kicks, but Jyn was more worried about the look in his eye.

Following his gaze, Jyn suddenly recognized one face she never thought she’d see at the Palace. Dressed in all white with gloves and glossy shoes, serving drinks to Krennic’s table, was none other than Cevran Andor himself. 

But she didn’t have time to wonder what the blazes he was doing here, because she had one count to spin herself back into Cassian’s arms. She could feel the tenseness on Cassian’s muscles when he caught her, and as they spun to face the other side of the ballroom, Jyn suddenly began to recognize more of the busboys. One from the first night she met Cevran at the Black Rose, another from the droid repurposing shop, and a third from the night of the Kyber raid.

Jyn barely had time to make worried eye contact with Cassian before he dipped her as the music crescendoed. She leaned all the way back until she could see the other side of the room upside down, watching Cevran clumsily knock over someone’s drink as he locked eyes with his brother. 

From somewhere in the crowd, a woman screamed, and a man called out something about a blaster, and then the ballroom erupted in chaos and fire. Cassian immediately pulled Jyn close and dove to the floor as blaster fire was exchanged between the busboys and stormtrooper security guards, across the floor from each other.

Jyn and Cassian crawled across the floor to find cover under a table, just as one of the busboys took out a smoke bomb and set it off in the middle of the dance floor. Imperials immediately started coughing and running for the exit. The smoke burned Jyn’s eyes and her vision became blurry. Cassian still had her hand and she followed him. 

The sound of blaster fire ceased, and the two dared to stand up. “Jyn!” A familiar voice called through the haze, and Jyn’s eyes finally focused on the shapes of Bodhi and her parents. She tugged Cassian’s hand and started towards them, but a blundering Imperial couple with bleary eyes ran right into her as they headed towards the exit. Cassian slipped from her hand as she was shoved backwards and taken by the flow of the crowd.

“Jyn!” Cassian yelled, his voice hoarse from the smoke. She could just make out the shape of him through the fog and the throngs of people. Bodhi caught her as she almost fell, and they were forced closer to the exit.

“Cassi!” Jyn shrieked, trying to resist the flow, only to be elbowed in the face. The smoke cleared for just a moment, enough for Jyn to catch a glimpse of his face. 

“Go! I’ll find you!” He nodded, then sprinted off into the fog towards where they had last seen Cevie.

Jyn wanted to scream again, but the air was burning her throat and Bodhi and her parents were being pulled away from her the more she tried to fight the crowd. She tried to ignore the sick feeling in her stomach and trust that Cassian was resourceful and strong and smart, and he’d probably be fine. 

Running blindly across the dancefloor with his puffy sleeve over his mouth, Cassian slid and crashed into the table and chairs on the other side of the floor. He tossed one of the chairs aside and kept going, listening for the sound of blaster fire amidst the turmoil. Near the entrance to the dressing room, Cassian could just make out a couple figures. He stumbled towards them as one knocked over the other with what looked like a pistol whip. 

“Long live the Rebellion…” Cevie’s hollow sounding voice reached Cassian just before the clear shape of his kneeling body emerged from the fog, a stormtrooper standing over him with a blaster trailed on the back of his head. Cassian took a deep breath of the fiery air and tackled the stormtrooper, catching him off guard and sending his blast into the carpet. Cassian wrestled the blaster from his grip and leapt up, reversing the roles.

Cassian gave the trooper a good smack across the head with the blaster, then ran to check on his brother. Cevie stood and coughed, returning an air purifier to his mouth. Cassian quickly stole the helmet of the trooper for some protection from the gas, then dragged his brother towards the balcony. Blaster fire whizzed past Cassian’s ear and grazed Cevran’s shoulder. Cassian automatically pivoted and laid out return fire, mowing down quite a few troopers behind them.

After blasting a hole through the grandiose window, the brothers left out onto the terrace and quickly hopped the railing, finding a hiding spot on a ledge in the crater, just underneath the low hanging balcony. Cassian threw off the helmet, desperate to breathe the bitingly cold but wonderfully fresh air outside the Palace. They clung to the wall of the crater and caught their breaths, waiting for the noise of the Palace to die down. 

When it was finally pretty quiet, Cassian turned to his brother with bared teeth. “What the _fuck,_ Cevran.” He was a good few inches shorter than his older brother, but he got into his face. “What were you _thinking?”_

Cevran ripped the air purifier out of his mouth and leaned towards his brother, unphased. “You know what day it is. We had to make a statement before—” 

“Cevran, you _knew_ I was going to be there with Jyn. There were _children_ there for Fest’s sake.” Cassian poked a finger at Cevran’s chest. He suddenly realized he was still holding the stormtrooper’s blaster, locked and loaded. He quickly popped the safety on and took the charges out. 

“Imperial children.” Cevran snarled, snatching the gun from him and reloading it. 

“Yeah? Say that to Elya.” Cassian spat, and Cevran finally hesitated. “Do you think this is what Poppa would want for us?” 

“I know he wouldn’t want us to sit and do nothing.” Cevran dusted off the blaster. 

“Do nothing? Is that what you think I do all day, helping Momma and taking care of our siblings and your son?” Cassian crossed his arms. “Everything I do, I do for them.” 

“Everything I do, I do for them too.” Cevran gestured around with the blaster and his free hand. 

Cassian just waved his arms, exasperated, and turned away. He was sick of having this conversation, because he knew they were both right in their own ways. It was just that… part of Cassian was terrified by how easy it was to take the lives of those stormtroopers back there for him. He was an excellent shot, and in the moment, he didn’t even think about it. He knew what it was like to lose someone, and yes, maybe they were just stormtroopers, raised from birth to be soldiers, but there was still probably someone out there who would feel the same gnawing hole in his chest he felt when he realized Poppa was never coming home. 

“You miss him, don’t you?” Cevran could almost read his mind. 

“Of course I do.” Cassian replied, letting go of his anger for a moment. 

“Sometimes, I still expect him to walk back in through the door…” Cevran looked out across the crater, too stoic to cry, but Cassian knew deep inside, he was crying somewhere. 

“...Wondering where all his books went.” Cassian smiled a bittersweet smile, thinking about those few years he was lucky enough to have had someone like his father in his life. 

“He wouldn’t want us to be fighting with each other, I know that.” Cassian looked up at his brother. “If we’re going to join the Rebellion together, we have to get along better.” Cev raised an eyebrow, obviously impressed that Cassian was really going to follow through. 

“Come on, let’s get out of here. I’m fucking freezing.” Cevran rubbed his arms, wrinkling the stiff fabric his busboy outfit was made out of. 

“Yeah, I’ll take the Festian winter over this rock any day.” Cassian shoved his hands in his pockets, and they headed off to find a way to get back home. 


	14. Dance into the fire, to fatal sounds of broken dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title lyrics from A View to a Kill by Duran Duran <3

Like fyrnocks running from floodlights, Imperial families rushed out of the Palace, braving the sub-zero temperatures of the moon to reach their transports. The cold stung Jyn’s eyes just as much as the gas inside the Palace had. Bodhi took hold of her hand and they ran after her parents towards their ship. 

If Cevran and his buddies wanted to make a statement, they definitely succeeded. Most of the officers on Fest were not seasoned on the front lines. They were more the bark orders from a command ship in orbit type. And many of them had their spouses and children there. It was a bold move. One that would probably get him killed. Jyn tried to banish her imaginations of what Cassian and Cevran were doing right now.

Once Jyn and Bodhi made it to the transport, the pilot shut the door behind them and revved the engine, using it to warm up the ship. Jyn looked around at the other shivering families that had made it aboard, noticing children coughing and officers suddenly sobered up and whispering in hushed voices.

“Is everyone alright?” Galen turned to his daughter, noticing the red mark on her face from being elbowed.

“I’m fine.” Jyn shrugged it off, then turned to the window as the ship took off. Frost was building up around it, so Jyn breathed on it and rubbed with her sleeve so she could see back towards the Palace. They were much too far away to make out the faces of anyone, but Jyn looked anyway, hoping to recognize the puffy sleeves of Cassian’s suit. 

The people around the Palace turned to tiny specks as the ship pulled farther and farther away. Jyn squeezed her eyes shut and clutched her kyber necklace. The necklace had always been a comfort to her since she was a little girl, but this time, she felt like she was asking it for more than comfort.

The crystal felt strangely warm in her hand. Jyn wanted to dismiss it as her hands just being freezing from running around without gloves in the atmosphere of Big Moon. But the warmth almost had a familiar feeling to it. Jyn didn’t know how, but in that instant, she knew that Cassian was alive and well. For the first time in what felt like ages, she let herself take a deep breath.

The ship jostled its passengers around a little as they entered the atmosphere of Fest, so Jyn, Bodhi, and her parents strapped themselves in. Bodhi took her hand again and squeezed it. “I’m sure he’s fine,” He whispered.

“I know he is,” Jyn replied, still holding the kyber crystal. Bodhi nodded. 

Jyn barely remembered the landing or the speeder ride back to the Hub. Just as they arrived, she knew what she had to do. 

“Jyn…” Her father put his hand on her shoulder and stopped her before she could run off. The other families had hurried inside, so it was only the four of them left in the courtyard. “Jyn, I know about the rendezvous tomorrow.” He kept his voice very low.

“Then come with me, Papa.” Jyn put her hand over her father’s. Galen looked to Bodhi and Lyra, then back to his daughter.

“Stardust, I can’t. There’s something… important for me to do here.” Jyn searched his eyes, trying to understand. “I can’t tell you about it, but you’ll know what I mean someday.” He smiled fondly. “You must follow your path, and I must follow mine.” 

Jyn wanted so badly to burst into tears and beg him to come with her, but she knew her father’s determination. She trusted that he was doing the right thing. “I love you, Papa.” 

Lyra pulled them both into a tight hug, tears spilling out of her eyes and getting on Galen’s suit. Jyn let herself cry too, for the first time in a while. She hated the thought of leaving her parents, but she knew she would always have them in her heart. 

Pulling away from the hug, she turned to Bodhi. “Come on, Bodhi, we have to find Cassian.” 

“I’m… I’m staying too.” Bodhi looked up at her sheepishly. “And not because I’m afraid. I have… something important to do here too.” Jyn was a little shocked that her father and her best friend had some plan she was out of the loop on, but she was more sad to be losing him right now too. 

Jyn engulfed him in a hug. “Give Phelos shit about choking on his drink for me when you see him, okay?” She was half crying, half laughing into Bodhi’s shoulder.

“I promise I will.” Bodhi laughed. She could tell he was trying not to think about it, pretending like they would wake up tomorrow and this would all be some elaborate prank, just as Jyn was thinking. 

Before her emotions could get the best of her, Jyn pulled away and waved goodbye to three of the four people in the universe that she truly loved. 

Just like that night all those weeks ago, Jyn ran all the way to the Black Rose in the freezing cold, dressed to the nines. She came flying in the door, shivering, her hair a complete mess. The club was packed that night with people who would rather be anywhere but the official Empire Day festivities, but the only faces she recognized were that of Corran and Mirax, the king and queen of the Black Rose.

“Jyn.” A voice called from behind her. When she turned around, she was greeted by the familiar dimpled smile of the best dancer on Fest. They rushed to be in each other’s arms, Cassian running a gentle finger over the mark on Jyn’s cheek and Jyn brushing the moon dust off his sleeves. They kissed briefly, but were interrupted by the hushing of the music and a loud announcement.

“Ladies, gentlemen, and everything in between!” Cevran had jumped up onto the stage and borrowed the mic from the singer. “May I present the winners of the latest Freestyle Ballroom contest, Jyn and Cassian!” He pointed to them, and the spotlights of the stage blinded Jyn. The crowd hollered for them, chanting for them to dance.

“What is he doing here?” Jyn raised an eyebrow at Cassian.

“Don’t worry, I already gave him an earful, and he actually almost apologized to me. But you know Cevie. He bounces back quickly.” Cassian shrugged.

The crowd was chanting, _Dance! Dance! Dance!_ And Cevran was spouting some more nonsense about them winning the contest.

“But we didn’t even win.” Jyn laughed.

“We would have.” Cassian winked at her, then offered her his hand.

Jyn took it and they strode to the center of the floor, the crowd parting, giving them the rights of queen and king of the Black Rose for tonight. They began their second routine, breaking apart, then flying into the birdlike lift. The crowd roared, and the band started up the music again, giving Jyn and Cassian to finally finish their winning routine. 

They swept the floor together, widening the circle and showing off their effortless coordination. Jyn let herself have more fun with the routine than she ever had before, giving Cassian a little attitude in their jive kicks and really raking her nails down the front of his suit as he caught her after a spin. Cassian smiled and planted a kiss on the tip of her nose, almost making her forget the choreography that came next.

But it wasn’t like her brain was doing all the work here. Her mind was occupied with the crinkles of Cassian’s nose, but her body knew this choreography like she was born doing it. Cassian dipped her and she leaned back until her hair brushed the floor. She made eye contact with the usual queen of the Black Rose, Mirax. Mirax let out a little _ow ow!_ And the crowd picked up and cheered them on.

They finished their routine with their classic spinning lift, pressing their foreheads together and giggling as they whirled around the floor. The song ended, leaving Jyn and Cassian in their final pose and a brief kiss. The crowd applauded generously, then rushed the floor, turning it back into its usual writhing mass of bodies. Everyone broke out into dance as the band picked back up again. 

Cassian wrapped Jyn’s arms around his shoulders and swayed them gently, side to side. Then he began to chuckle.

“What?” Jyn needled him. 

“I’m just impressed with you. You went from my mother’s ironing board to queen of The Black Rose.” He ran a hand through her hair, brushing her bangs out of her eyes.

“With your help of course.” She beamed, then leaned in to kiss him.

Jyn didn’t know what the next day would bring. She didn’t know what joining the Rebellion was going to be like, or how they were going to get back to the moon for the rendezvous, but right now, she was just letting herself enjoy the moment. Right now, she and Cassian were the king and queen of the Black Rose, and she was stupidly, madly, ridiculously, head over heels in love with him.

She was leaving her world, leaving her old dreams, for new ones, new dreams that Cassian convinced her she could really believe in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW I can't believe she's finished? This last chapter was a little short but it was a bonus chapter after all :) I hope you all enjoyed this crack ass journey!! I certainly have, and part of me is really going to miss this fic. I am contemplating a sequel but I have quite a few projects coming down the pipeline before I think about returning to this one, but she will always be near and dear to my heart....


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